烫 (tàng) is a Chinese character meaning “scalding hot”. It is written from 汤 (hot water; soup) and 火 (fire), one above the other, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “scalding hot”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
汤 + 火
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: IDS ⿱汤火 (build-time IDS data). Modern glyph split checked stroke by stroke against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 (strokes 0–5 = 汤, strokes 6–9 = 火; 6+4=10). 火 marks heat; 汤 tāng is the sound component of 烫 tàng (tone differs only).
Memory aid
Soup (汤) set right on top of a fire (火). Touch it now and it is scalding — that is 烫.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 烫伤tàng shāngto scald; a scald (burn from something hot)烫 = tàng
- 滚烫gǔn tàngboiling hot; scalding烫 = tàng
Go deeper
All readings
scalding hot; to scald; to iron
scalding hot; to scald or burn (with something hot); to heat up (in hot water); to iron (clothes); to perm (hair)
温度很高，碰到让人难受；被高温的东西弄伤；用热的东西加热或熨平，如烫衣服、烫头发。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 烫伤tàng shāngto scald; a scald (burn from something hot)烫 = tàng
- 滚烫gǔn tàngboiling hot; scalding烫 = tàng
Sound component
汤 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 烫 mean?
烫 (tàng) means scalding hot; to scald or burn (with something hot); to heat up (in hot water); to iron (clothes); to perm (hair).
How do you pronounce 烫?
It is pronounced tàng.
What parts is 烫 made of?
汤 (hot water; soup) and 火 (fire), one above the other. The recorded source is: IDS ⿱汤火 (build-time IDS data). Modern glyph split checked stroke by stroke against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 (strokes 0–5 = 汤, strokes 6–9 = 火; 6+4=10). 火 marks heat; 汤 tāng is the sound component of 烫 tàng (tone differs only).. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 烫 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 烫?
火. 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 烫?
Common ones are 烫伤 and 滚烫. The reading of 烫 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.