駁 meaning and stroke order
Variegated, motley; to refuse, to dispute
How to write 駁, stroke by stroke
14 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
Meaning of 駁
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- variegated
- heterogeneous
- to refute
- to contradict
- to ship by barge
- a barge
How 駁 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Horse.
馬 gives the meaning and 爻 hints at the sound.
Radical: 馬 (horse), shared by 47 characters on this site.
How to remember 駁
駁 is a horse 馬 (mǎ) next to 爻 (yáo), which looks like crossed lines. Picture a horse with crisscross patches of color, a motley horse, and then imagine those crossing lines as arguments clashing when you dispute someone.
Today 駁 (simplified 驳) mostly means to refute or reject, and it usually appears in compounds like 反驳 (fǎnbó) and 驳回 (bóhuí). Example: 法院驳回了他的请求。 (Fǎyuàn bóhuí le tā de qǐngqiú.) The court rejected his request.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes say bò or bǒ, but the tone is second tone, bó. Also do not confuse the right side 爻 with 交 (jiāo). 爻 is two stacked crosses with no dot on top.
Common words with 駁
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 駁
How many strokes are in 駁?
駁 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 駁 mean?
駁 (bó) means variegated, motley; to refuse, to dispute. A common word with it is 驳回 (bóhuí), meaning "to reject; to turn down".
How do you pronounce 駁?
駁 is pronounced bó, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 駁?
The radical of 駁 is 馬, which carries the idea of "horse". Dictionaries list 駁 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 駁?
駁 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 驳, used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 反驳 and 驳回?
反驳 (fǎnbó) means to argue back against what someone said, in conversation or debate. 驳回 (bóhuí) means an authority officially rejects a request, appeal or proposal.
Does 駁 still mean a barge?
Yes, in the word 驳船 (bóchuán), a barge used to move cargo between ships and shore. The 'motley' sense survives mainly in written words like 斑驳 (bānbó), mottled.