悍 (hàn) is a Chinese character meaning “brave”. It is written from 忄 (heart (left-side form)) and 旱 (drought; dry spell), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “fierce; bold”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
忄 + 旱
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字：悍，勇也。从心旱聲。现代字形按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（忄3 + 旱7 = 10 笔）
Memory aid
忄 on the left is the heart. 旱 on the right is drought — hàn, the same sound as 悍. A heart as hard and dry as ground in a drought, afraid of nothing: 悍, fierce and bold.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 强悍qiáng hàntough and intrepid; formidable悍 = hàn
- 凶悍xiōng hànfierce and ferocious悍 = hàn
- 彪悍biāo hàntough and fierce; intrepid悍 = hàn
Go deeper
All readings
fierce; bold
brave; bold; tough; fierce; ferocious
勇猛，强劲有力；也指凶狠、蛮横。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 强悍qiáng hàntough and intrepid; formidable悍 = hàn
- 凶悍xiōng hànfierce and ferocious悍 = hàn
- 彪悍biāo hàntough and fierce; intrepid悍 = hàn
Origin
A phono-semantic compound: the heart element 心 (written 忄 on the left) gives the meaning, and 旱 on the right supplies the sound. 说文解字 glosses it as 勇 — brave, bold.
Source: 说文解字：悍，勇也。从心旱聲。
Sound component
旱 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 悍 mean?
悍 (hàn) means brave; bold; tough; fierce; ferocious.
How do you pronounce 悍?
It is pronounced hàn.
What parts is 悍 made of?
忄 (heart (left-side form)) and 旱 (drought; dry spell), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字：悍，勇也。从心旱聲。现代字形按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（忄3 + 旱7 = 10 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 悍 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 悍?
心. 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 悍?
Common ones are 强悍 and 凶悍. The reading of 悍 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.