挺 (tǐng) is a Chinese character meaning “to straighten (the body)”. It is written from 扌 (hand (radical form)) and 廷 (imperial court), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “to straighten up”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
扌 + 廷
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS 现代字形拆分（⿰扌廷），已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数核验：扌3 + 廷6 = 9
Memory aid
A hand (扌) at the royal court (廷): standing before the throne, you pull your shoulders back and straighten up. Both parts are really in this character.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 挺直tǐng zhíto straighten up; straight and upright挺 = tǐng
- 挺好tǐng hǎopretty good; quite good挺 = tǐngspoken astíng hǎo
Go deeper
All readings
to straighten; quite
to straighten (the body); to stick out; to hold out, to endure; (colloquial) quite, rather, fairly
把身体或物体伸直、凸出；也指勉强支撑住。口语中放在形容词前，表示程度相当高。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 挺直tǐng zhíto straighten up; straight and upright挺 = tǐng
- 挺好tǐng hǎopretty good; quite good挺 = tǐngspoken astíng hǎo
Sound component
廷 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 挺 mean?
挺 (tǐng) means to straighten (the body); to stick out; to hold out, to endure; (colloquial) quite, rather, fairly.
How do you pronounce 挺?
It is pronounced tǐng.
What parts is 挺 made of?
扌 (hand (radical form)) and 廷 (imperial court), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS 现代字形拆分（⿰扌廷），已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数核验：扌3 + 廷6 = 9. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 挺 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 挺?
手. 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 挺?
Common ones are 挺直 and 挺好. The reading of 挺 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.