凶 (xiōng) is a Chinese character meaning “fierce”. It is written from 凵 (open box) and 乂 (crossing strokes), one enclosing the other, and takes 4 strokes.
Build the character for “fierce, ominous”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
凵 + 乂
Enclosing structure
Structure from: Unicode U+51F6, Unicode radical 17 (凵), and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (strokes 0–1 form 乂 inside; strokes 2–3 form the open box 凵)
Memory aid
An open box (凵) with two slashes crossed out inside it (乂). Both parts are really in this character: something is shut in the pit and marked off — bad news, 凶.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
4 strokes
In real words
- 凶手xiōng shǒumurderer; killer凶 = xiōng
- 凶猛xiōng měngferocious; fierce凶 = xiōng
- 凶悍xiōng hànfierce and ferocious凶 = xiōng
- 凶狠xiōng hěnvicious; ferocious; savage凶 = xiōng
Go deeper
All readings
fierce; ominous
fierce; ferocious; violent; inauspicious; an act of killing or the person who did it
凶恶、猛烈；也指不吉利，或杀害人的行为与做这件事的人。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 凶手xiōng shǒumurderer; killer凶 = xiōng
- 凶猛xiōng měngferocious; fierce凶 = xiōng
- 凶悍xiōng hànfierce and ferocious凶 = xiōng
- 凶狠xiōng hěnvicious; ferocious; savage凶 = xiōng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 凶 mean?
凶 (xiōng) means fierce; ferocious; violent; inauspicious; an act of killing or the person who did it.
How do you pronounce 凶?
It is pronounced xiōng.
What parts is 凶 made of?
凵 (open box) and 乂 (crossing strokes), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+51F6, Unicode radical 17 (凵), and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (strokes 0–1 form 乂 inside; strokes 2–3 form the open box 凵). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 凶 have?
4. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 凶?
凵. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 凶?
Common ones are 凶手 and 凶猛. The reading of 凶 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.