褒 (bāo): to praise

褒 (bāo) is a Chinese character meaning “to praise.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 衣 (semantic) and 保 (phonetic). It ranks #3115 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 褒 clothes. Its radical form 衣 (clothing) appears in many related characters such as 裳 (cháng, lower garment).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 衣 clothing15 strokesFrequency #3115衣 semantic 保 phonetic

Definitions

to praise

Etymology & Origin

褒

pictophoneticclothes

Decomposition: ⿻衣保 (layout: overlay)

Components:衣semantic 保phonetic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 褒 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
褒义	bāo yì	commendatory sense
褒扬	bāo yáng	to praise
褒贬	bāo biǎn	to appraise
贬多于褒	biǎn duō yú bāo	to get more criticism than praise
一字褒贬	yī zì bāo biǎn	lit. to dispense praise or blame with a single word (idiom)
褒忠乡	bāo zhōng xiāng	Baozhong or Paochung township in Yunlin county 雲林縣\|云林县[Yun2 lin2 xian4], Taiwan
褒禅山	bāo chán shān	Mt Baochan in Anhui
褒忠	bāo zhōng	Baozhong or Paochung township in Yunlin county 雲林縣\|云林县[Yun2 lin2 xian4], Taiwan
褒呔	bāo tāi	bow tie (loanword) (Cantonese)
褒姒	bāo sì	Baosi, concubine of King You of Zhou 周幽王[Zhou1 You1 wang2] and one of the famous Chinese beauties

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

褒 appears in 10 compound words: 80 as the first character, 10 as the last, and 10 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 褒 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

贬biǎn

0.7247,368 co-occurrences

忠zhōng

0.4893,954 co-occurrences

扬yáng

0.4871,962 co-occurrences

价jià

0.4412,226 co-occurrences

评píng

0.4402,856 co-occurrences

令lìng

0.4234,674 co-occurrences

不bù

0.41816,218 co-occurrences

恤xù

0.414234 co-occurrences

奖jiǎng

0.4022,148 co-occurrences

予yú

0.3881,590 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

一字褒贬yīzì-bāobiǎnHSK 7+

a concise and deliberate choice of words

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

褒字虽然难写，但意思很有趣。

bāo zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .

Although the character "Bao" is difficult to write, its meaning is quite interesting.

StheadlineMar 2026

高市访美—白宫会特朗普夸张表现褒贬不一网民:为何卑躬屈膝地向对方低头

gāo shì fǎng měi — bái gōng huì tè lǎng pǔ kuā zhāng biǎo xiàn bāo biǎn bù yī wǎng mín : wéi hé bēi gōng qū xī dì xiàng duì fāng dī tóu

Kaohsiung Mayor Visits the U.S.—Mixed Reactions to His Over-the-Top Behavior During White House Meeting with Trump; Netizens Ask: Why Is He Bowing Down to the Other Side?

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 褒 (bāo) mean in Chinese?

褒 (bāo) primarily means "to praise." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #3115 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 褒 have?

褒 is written with 15 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 褒?

The radical associated with 褒 is 衣 (clothing). This radical appears in many characters related to clothing.

What are the components of 褒?

褒 is composed of: 衣 (semantic), 保 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿻衣保 with a overlay layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 褒?

Common words with 褒 include: 褒义 (bāo yì, "commendatory sense"); 褒扬 (bāo yáng, "to praise"); 褒贬 (bāo biǎn, "to appraise"); 贬多于褒 (biǎn duō yú bāo, "to get more criticism than praise"); 一字褒贬 (yī zì bāo biǎn, "lit. to dispense praise or blame with a single word (idiom)"). There are over 10 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 褒 (bāo)?

Several characters share the pronunciation bāo: 煲 (to cook slowly over a low flame). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 褒 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 褒 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 褒 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play