垮 (kuǎ) is a Chinese character meaning “to collapse”. It is written from 土 (earth; soil) and 夸 (to boast; to exaggerate), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “to collapse”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
土 + 夸
Left–right structure
Structure from: modern-glyph decomposition verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 strokes (3 + 6 = 9)
Memory aid
Earth (土) that does nothing but boast (夸): all talk, nothing packed underneath — so it caves in.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 垮台kuǎ táito collapse; to fall from power垮 = kuǎ
- 打垮dǎ kuǎto defeat; to smash; to crush垮 = kuǎspoken asdá kuǎ
Go deeper
All readings
to collapse
to collapse; to cave in; to break down; to be defeated or worn out
倒塌；崩溃。也指被击败或累得支撑不住。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 垮台kuǎ táito collapse; to fall from power垮 = kuǎ
- 打垮dǎ kuǎto defeat; to smash; to crush垮 = kuǎspoken asdá kuǎ
Sound component
夸 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 垮 mean?
垮 (kuǎ) means to collapse; to cave in; to break down; to be defeated or worn out.
How do you pronounce 垮?
It is pronounced kuǎ.
What parts is 垮 made of?
土 (earth; soil) and 夸 (to boast; to exaggerate), side by side. The recorded source is: modern-glyph decomposition verified against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 strokes (3 + 6 = 9). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 垮 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 垮?
土. 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 垮?
Common ones are 垮台 and 打垮. The reading of 垮 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.