廓 (kuò): (bound form) extensive, vast, (bound form) outline, general shape, (bound form) to expand, to extend

廓 (kuò) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) extensive.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 广 (semantic) and 郭 (phonetic). It ranks #2697 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 廓 wide. Its radical form 广 (shelter) appears in many related characters such as 床 (chuáng, bed), 店 (diàn, shop), 广 (guǎng, wide, broad).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (bound form) extensive
  2. vast
  3. (bound form) outline
  4. general shape
  5. (bound form) to expand
  6. to extend

Etymology & Origin

廓

pictophoneticwide

Decomposition: ⿸广郭 (layout: surround-from-upper-left)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
轮廓nounlún kuòoutline
胸廓切开术xiōng kuò qiē kāi shùthoracotomy (medicine)
声调轮廓shēng diào lún kuòtone contour
轮廓鲜明lún kuò xiān míngsharp image
轮廓线lún kuò xiànoutline
八廓街bā kuò jiēBarkhor street, central business area and pilgrim circuit around Jokhang temple in Lhasa, Tibet
廓清verbkuò qīngto clear up
八廓proper-nounbā kuòBarkhor, pilgrim circuit around Jokhang temple in Lhasa, Tibet
耳廓nouněr kuòouter ear
胸廓nounxiōng kuòthorax
耳廓狐nouněr kuò húfennec
寥廓adjectiveliáo kuò(literary) vast
12
Total compounds
8
As first character
50
As last character
42
As middle character

廓 appears in 12 compound words: 8 as the first character, 50 as the last, and 42 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 廓 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

轮lún
0.6013,918 co-occurrences
寥liáo
0.45766 co-occurrences
晰xī
0.456178 co-occurrences
呈chéng
0.427574 co-occurrences
狐hú
0.425186 co-occurrences
圆yuán
0.421320 co-occurrences
帖tiē
0.417144 co-occurrences
耳ěr
0.414462 co-occurrences
炮pào
0.413544 co-occurrences
缘yuán
0.403212 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

廓字在日常生活中使用频率较低。

kuò zì zài rì cháng shēng huó zhōng shǐ yòng pín lǜ jiào dī .

The character "廓" is not commonly used in everyday life.

爱范儿Aug 2026

港口、高架桥、低矮住宅区和摩天楼彼此相连,远处依然保留着清晰的建筑轮廓。

gǎng kǒu , gāo jià qiáo , dī ǎi zhù zhái qū hé mó tiān lóu bǐ cǐ xiāng lián , yuǎn chǔ yī rán bǎo liú zhe qīng xī de jiàn zhù lún kuò .

Ports, overpasses, low-rise residential neighborhoods, and skyscrapers blend together, while the building silhouettes in the distance remain clearly visible.

爱范儿Aug 2026

随后,它把同一段画面一层层调清,补上物体轮廓、夹爪开合和接触位置。

suí hòu , tā bǎ tóng yī duàn huà miàn yī céng céng diào qīng , bǔ shàng wù tǐ lún kuò , jiā zhǎo kāi gě hé jiē chù wèi zhì .

It then gradually clarified the same sequence of footage, layer by layer, adding the outlines of objects, the opening and closing of the claws, and their points of contact.

SmzdmMar 2026

...性眼皮松弛下垂?温润养护眼油提拉收紧眼轮廓

. . . xìng yǎn pí sōng chí xià chuí ? wēn rùn yǎng hù yǎn yóu tí lā shōu jǐn yǎn lún kuò

...Do you have sagging eyelids? This nourishing eye oil lifts and firms the eye contour.

TvbsMar 2026

...!张钧甯自爆“肿成内双” 专家授4招:轮廓秒回来

. . . ! zhāng jūn 甯 zì bào zhǒng chéng nèi shuāng zhuān jiā shòu 4 zhāo : lún kuò miǎo huí lái

...! Zhang Junning Reveals Her Eyes Swelled to the Point of Looking Like “Monolids”; Expert Shares 4 Tips: Restore Your Facial Contours Instantly

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...台积电1.5公里 高捷R17世运站A6街廓公办都更启动招商

. . . tái jī diàn 1 . 5 gōng lǐ gāo jié R 1 7 shì yùn zhàn A 6 jiē kuò gōng bàn dōu gēng qǐ dòng zhāo shāng

... TSMC's 1.5-kilometer Gaojie R17 World Games Station A6 Street Public Office has launched investment promotion

Tatoeba

线条艺术强调形式和轮廓,而不是颜色、阴影和纹理。

Xiàntiáo yìshù qiángdiào xíngshì hé lúnkuò, ér bù shì yánsè, yīnyǐng hé wénlǐ.

Line art emphasizes form and outline, over color, shading, and texture.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 广 (wide) component

广 Radical Family — Characters sharing the shelter radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced kuò

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 廓 (kuò) mean in Chinese?
廓 (kuò) primarily means "(bound form) extensive." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2697 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 廓 have?
廓 is written with 13 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 廓?
The radical associated with 廓 is 广 (shelter). This radical appears in many characters related to shelter.
What are the components of 廓?
廓 is composed of: 广 (semantic), 郭 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿸广郭 with a surround-from-upper-left layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 廓?
Common words with 廓 include: 轮廓 (lún kuò, "outline"); 胸廓切开术 (xiōng kuò qiē kāi shù, "thoracotomy (medicine)"); 声调轮廓 (shēng diào lún kuò, "tone contour"); 轮廓鲜明 (lún kuò xiān míng, "sharp image"); 轮廓线 (lún kuò xiàn, "outline"). There are over 12 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 廓 (kuò)?
Several characters share the pronunciation kuò: 括 ((bound form) to tie up), 扩 (to expand), 阔 (wide, broad). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 廓 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 廓 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 廓 with real-time feedback

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

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.