艳 (yàn) is a Chinese character meaning “gorgeous”. It is written from 丰 (abundant; lush growth) and 色 (colour; look, appearance), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “gorgeous; colourful”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
丰 + 色
Left–right structure
Structure from: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（4+6 笔与 hanzi-writer-data 逐笔核验一致）
Memory aid
Abundant (丰) colour (色). Both parts really are in this character — colour in abundance is gorgeous and vivid.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 鲜艳xiān yànbright-coloured; vivid艳 = yàn
- 艳丽yàn lìgorgeous; bright and beautiful艳 = yàn
Go deeper
All readings
gorgeous; colourful
gorgeous; colourful; bright and beautiful
颜色鲜明、好看；华丽。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 鲜艳xiān yànbright-coloured; vivid艳 = yàn
- 艳丽yàn lìgorgeous; bright and beautiful艳 = yàn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 艳 mean?
艳 (yàn) means gorgeous; colourful; bright and beautiful.
How do you pronounce 艳?
It is pronounced yàn.
What parts is 艳 made of?
丰 (abundant; lush growth) and 色 (colour; look, appearance), side by side. The recorded source is: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分（4+6 笔与 hanzi-writer-data 逐笔核验一致）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 艳 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 艳?
色. 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 艳?
Common ones are 鲜艳 and 艳丽. The reading of 艳 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.