淆 (xiáo) is a Chinese character meaning “mixed up”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 肴 (cooked dish (of meat)), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “to confuse”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
氵 + 肴
Left–right structure
Structure from: makemeahanzi 构形候选 ⿰氵肴（形声：氵义、肴声）与 cjkvi-ids ⿰氵肴 一致；hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」，笔画 3–10 与「肴」逐笔对应（3+8=11画）
Memory aid
Water (氵) splashed over a dish of food (肴) — everything runs together and you can no longer tell what is what. That is 淆: mixed up, confused.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 混淆hùn xiáoto confuse; to mix up; to blur (the line between)淆 = xiáo
Go deeper
All readings
to confuse
mixed up; confused; to confuse; to blur the distinction
混杂；使界限不清，分辨不出。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 混淆hùn xiáoto confuse; to mix up; to blur (the line between)淆 = xiáo
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 淆 mean?
淆 (xiáo) means mixed up; confused; to confuse; to blur the distinction.
How do you pronounce 淆?
It is pronounced xiáo.
What parts is 淆 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 肴 (cooked dish (of meat)), side by side. The recorded source is: makemeahanzi 构形候选 ⿰氵肴（形声：氵义、肴声）与 cjkvi-ids ⿰氵肴 一致；hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「氵」，笔画 3–10 与「肴」逐笔对应（3+8=11画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 淆 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 淆?
氵. 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 淆?
Common ones are 混淆. The reading of 淆 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.