祸 (huò) is a Chinese character meaning “disaster”. It is written from 礻 (spirit / altar (radical form of 示)) and 呙 (crooked mouth (sound component in 锅, 祸, 涡)), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “disaster; misfortune”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
礻 + 呙
Left–right structure
- 礻 spirit / altar (radical form of 示) · shì meaning
- 呙 crooked mouth (sound component in 锅, 祸, 涡) · guō sound
Structure from: 说文解字·示部：禍，害也，神不福也。从示咼聲（现代字形 礻4+呙7=11，已按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验）
Memory aid
At the altar (礻) a crooked mouth (呙) mutters a curse — and misfortune follows.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 车祸chē huòtraffic accident; car crash祸 = huò
- 闯祸chuǎng huòto get into trouble; to cause an accident祸 = huò
Go deeper
All readings
disaster; misfortune
disaster; misfortune; calamity; to bring disaster upon
灾难、不幸的事；也指使受害。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 车祸chē huòtraffic accident; car crash祸 = huò
- 闯祸chuǎng huòto get into trouble; to cause an accident祸 = huò
Sound component
呙 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 祸 mean?
祸 (huò) means disaster; misfortune; calamity; to bring disaster upon.
How do you pronounce 祸?
It is pronounced huò.
What parts is 祸 made of?
礻 (spirit / altar (radical form of 示)) and 呙 (crooked mouth (sound component in 锅, 祸, 涡)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字·示部：禍，害也，神不福也。从示咼聲（现代字形 礻4+呙7=11，已按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 祸 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 祸?
礻. 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 祸?
Common ones are 车祸 and 闯祸. The reading of 祸 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.