歪 (wāi) is a Chinese character meaning “crooked”. It is written from 不 (not) and 正 (upright; straight; correct), one above the other, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “crooked”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
不 + 正
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: IDS decomposition verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke counts (4 + 5 = 9)
Memory aid
Both parts are really in this character: 不 "not" sitting on top of 正 "straight". Not straight — so it leans, it is crooked.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 歪斜wāi xiécrooked; slanting; askew歪 = wāi
- 歪曲wāi qūto distort; to twist (facts)歪 = wāi
Go deeper
All readings
crooked
crooked; slanting; askew; tilted; (of behaviour) devious
不正；偏向一边。也指不正派的。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 歪斜wāi xiécrooked; slanting; askew歪 = wāi
- 歪曲wāi qūto distort; to twist (facts)歪 = wāi
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 歪 mean?
歪 (wāi) means crooked; slanting; askew; tilted; (of behaviour) devious.
How do you pronounce 歪?
It is pronounced wāi.
What parts is 歪 made of?
不 (not) and 正 (upright; straight; correct), one above the other. The recorded source is: IDS decomposition verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke counts (4 + 5 = 9). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 歪 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 歪?
止. 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 歪?
Common ones are 歪斜 and 歪曲. The reading of 歪 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.