妖 (yāo) is a Chinese character meaning “demon”. It is written from 女 (woman; female) and 夭 (young; tender), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “demon”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
女 + 夭
Left–right structure
Structure from: 构形拆分 IDS ⿰女夭，已与 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（女3 + 夭4 = 7）；形声结构，夭 yāo 表声
Memory aid
The left half, 女 (woman), tells you what kind of thing this character is about — a bewitching, uncanny figure. The right half, 夭 (yāo), is not doing meaning work here; it is carrying the sound, and carrying it unchanged: yāo → yāo. Both parts are really in the character; only their jobs differ.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 妖怪yāo guàimonster; demon; goblin妖 = yāo
Go deeper
All readings
demon
demon; evil spirit; goblin; (of a thing) weird, uncanny; bewitching
神话传说中形貌怪异、会法术的精怪；也指怪异反常或过分妖艳。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 妖怪yāo guàimonster; demon; goblin妖 = yāo
Sound component
夭 family exact
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 妖 mean?
妖 (yāo) means demon; evil spirit; goblin; (of a thing) weird, uncanny; bewitching.
How do you pronounce 妖?
It is pronounced yāo.
What parts is 妖 made of?
女 (woman; female) and 夭 (young; tender), side by side. The recorded source is: 构形拆分 IDS ⿰女夭，已与 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（女3 + 夭4 = 7）；形声结构，夭 yāo 表声. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 妖 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 妖?
女. 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 妖?
Common ones are 妖怪. The reading of 妖 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.