侥 (jiǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “by luck”. It is written from 亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 尧 (Yao (legendary sage emperor); lofty, towering), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “by luck”
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Structure
亻 + 尧
Left–right structure
- 亻 person (the form 人 takes on the left) · rén meaning
- 尧 Yao (legendary sage emperor); lofty, towering · yáo sound
Structure from: Unicode U+4FA5 与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 现代字形核验（左「亻」2 笔 + 右「尧」6 笔 = 8 笔）
Memory aid
A person (亻) leans on 尧, the towering one, and gets through with no effort of their own. That is 侥 — coming out fine purely by luck.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 侥幸jiǎo xìngby sheer luck; by a fluke侥 = jiǎo
Go deeper
All readings
by luck
by luck; by chance — used in 侥幸, to succeed or escape trouble by a fluke
由于偶然的原因而得到成功或免去灾祸，主要用于「侥幸」一词。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 侥幸jiǎo xìngby sheer luck; by a fluke侥 = jiǎo
Rare readings, not taught: yáo
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 侥 mean?
侥 (jiǎo) means by luck; by chance — used in 侥幸, to succeed or escape trouble by a fluke.
How do you pronounce 侥?
It is pronounced jiǎo.
What parts is 侥 made of?
亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 尧 (Yao (legendary sage emperor); lofty, towering), side by side. The recorded source is: Unicode U+4FA5 与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 现代字形核验（左「亻」2 笔 + 右「尧」6 笔 = 8 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 侥 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 侥?
人. 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 侥?
Common ones are 侥幸. The reading of 侥 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.