雅 meaning and stroke order
Elegant, graceful, refined
How to write 雅, stroke by stroke
12 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 雅
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- elegant
How 雅 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Bird.
隹 gives the meaning and 牙 hints at the sound.
Radical: 隹 (short-tailed bird), shared by 32 characters on this site.
How to remember 雅
雅 is built from 牙 (yá, tooth), which gives the sound, and 隹 (zhuī), a short-tailed bird, which gives the meaning. Picture a graceful bird that smiles politely without showing its teeth, and you have something elegant.
雅 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese. It usually appears in words like 优雅 (yōuyǎ), 高雅 (gāoyǎ) and 文雅 (wényǎ) to describe refined manners, taste or style. Example: 她说话很优雅。(Tā shuōhuà hěn yōuyǎ.) She speaks very gracefully.
Common mistake: Learners often read 雅 as yá because of the phonetic part 牙 (yá), but 雅 is third tone, yǎ. Also do not confuse it with 鸦 (yā, crow), which puts 牙 with 鸟 instead of 隹.
Common words with 雅
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
雅 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 雅
How many strokes are in 雅?
雅 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 雅 mean?
雅 (yǎ) means elegant, graceful, refined. A common word with it is 优雅 (yōuyǎ), meaning "grace; graceful".
How do you pronounce 雅?
雅 is pronounced yǎ, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 雅?
The radical of 雅 is 隹, which carries the idea of "short-tailed bird". Dictionaries list 雅 under this radical.
Is 雅 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 雅 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 无伤大雅 mean and when do I use it?
无伤大雅 (wúshāngdàyǎ) means a small flaw does no real harm to the whole. You use it to say a minor mistake is not a big deal, for example about a tiny typo in a long report.
Is 雅 used in names?
Yes. Because it suggests elegance and refinement, 雅 is common in Chinese given names, especially for girls, such as 小雅 (Xiǎoyǎ). In classical contexts, 小雅 is also a section of the Book of Songs.