妙 (miào) is a Chinese character meaning “wonderful”. It is written from 女 (woman; female) and 少 (few; little), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “wonderful; subtle”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
女 + 少
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS ⿰女少（已按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：女 3 + 少 4 = 7）；康熙字典部首归女，少为声符
Memory aid
A woman (女) working with very little (少) — so light and delicate that the result feels wonderful. Both parts really are in this character.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 巧妙qiǎo miàoingenious; clever妙 = miào
- 玄妙xuán miàomysterious and profound妙 = miào
- 惟妙惟肖wéi miào wéi xiàoremarkably lifelike; vividly true to life妙 = miào
- 曼妙màn miàograceful; lithe and lovely妙 = miào
- 莫名其妙mò míng qí miàobaffling; inexplicable; for no apparent reason妙 = miào
Go deeper
All readings
wonderful; subtle
wonderful; marvellous; excellent; subtle; ingenious
美好、精巧；也指深奥微妙、不易察觉。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 巧妙qiǎo miàoingenious; clever妙 = miào
- 玄妙xuán miàomysterious and profound妙 = miào
- 惟妙惟肖wéi miào wéi xiàoremarkably lifelike; vividly true to life妙 = miào
- 曼妙màn miàograceful; lithe and lovely妙 = miào
- 莫名其妙mò míng qí miàobaffling; inexplicable; for no apparent reason妙 = miào
Sound component
少 family diverged
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 妙 mean?
妙 (miào) means wonderful; marvellous; excellent; subtle; ingenious.
How do you pronounce 妙?
It is pronounced miào.
What parts is 妙 made of?
女 (woman; female) and 少 (few; little), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS ⿰女少（已按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：女 3 + 少 4 = 7）；康熙字典部首归女，少为声符. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 妙 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 妙?
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 妙?
Common ones are 巧妙 and 玄妙. The reading of 妙 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.