妄 (wàng) is a Chinese character meaning “absurd”. It is written from 亡 (to perish; to lose) and 女 (woman; female), one above the other, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “absurd; reckless”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
亡 + 女
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 妄，亂也。从女亡聲
Memory aid
亡 means "to lose", and it sits on top of 女, a person. Picture the losing part landing on top: once good judgement is gone, what is left is 妄 — reckless, absurd thinking.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 妄想wàng xiǎngdelusion; wishful thinking; to daydream of妄 = wàng
- 狂妄kuáng wàngarrogant; presumptuous妄 = wàng
Go deeper
All readings
absurd; reckless
absurd; preposterous; reckless; presumptuous
荒诞不合实际的；胡乱的、不守分寸的。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 妄想wàng xiǎngdelusion; wishful thinking; to daydream of妄 = wàng
- 狂妄kuáng wàngarrogant; presumptuous妄 = wàng
Sound component
亡 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 妄 mean?
妄 (wàng) means absurd; preposterous; reckless; presumptuous.
How do you pronounce 妄?
It is pronounced wàng.
What parts is 妄 made of?
亡 (to perish; to lose) and 女 (woman; female), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 妄，亂也。从女亡聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 妄 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 妄?
女. 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 妄?
Common ones are 妄想 and 狂妄. The reading of 妄 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.