婪 (lán): avaricious

婪 (lán) is a Chinese character meaning “avaricious.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 林 (phonetic) and 女 (semantic). It ranks #2802 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 婪 woman. Its radical form 女 (woman) appears in many related characters such as 女 (nǚ, woman), 奶 (nǎi, grandmother, milk), 她 (tā, she).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 女 woman11 strokesFrequency #2802林 phonetic 女 semantic

Definitions

avaricious

Etymology & Origin

婪

pictophoneticwoman

Decomposition: ⿱林女 (layout: top-bottom)

Components:林phonetic 女semantic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 婪 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
贪婪	tān lán	avaricious
贪婪无厌	tān lán wú yàn	avaricious and insatiable (idiom)

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

婪 appears in 2 compound words: 0 as the first character, 50 as the last, and 50 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 婪 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

贪tān

0.7665,094 co-occurrences

吝lìn

0.49090 co-occurrences

啬sè

0.48936 co-occurrences

猾huá

0.45978 co-occurrences

狡jiǎo

0.44078 co-occurrences

虐nüè

0.434234 co-occurrences

惰duò

0.43066 co-occurrences

鄙bǐ

0.41266 co-occurrences

厌yàn

0.41190 co-occurrences

残cán

0.397234 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

贪婪无厌tānlánwúyànHSK 7+

avaricious; greedy; not able to settle for less

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

婪娲补天的故事在中国流传了几千年。

lán 娲 bǔ tiān de gù shì zài zhōng guó liú chuán le jī qiān nián .

The story of Nuwa patching the sky has been passed down for thousands of years in China.

TvbsApr 2026

长辈容易被爱情诈骗!不是贪婪医揭关键原因:3种缺口

cháng bèi róng yì bèi ài qíng zhà piàn ! bù shì tān lán yī jiē guān jiàn yuán yīn : 3 zhǒng quē kǒu

Elderly People Are Vulnerable to Romance Scams! It’s Not Greed—Doctors Reveal the Key Reasons: 3 Vulnerabilities

大紀元 | 大紀元新聞網Apr 2026

丹麦专家观神韵领悟“不可贪婪”的普世价值观

dān mài zhuān jiā guàn shén yùn lǐng wù bù kě tān lán de pǔ shì jià zhí guàn

Danish Experts Attend Shen Yun and Gain Insight into the Universal Value of "Non-Greed"

Nownews今日新聞Mar 2026

为一个“贪婪罪犯”上凯道?前幕僚开呛柯文哲:践踏民主...

wéi yī gè tān lán zuì fàn shàng kǎi dào ? qián mù liáo kāi qiàng 柯 wén zhé : jiàn tà mín zhǔ . . .

Taking a "greedy criminal" to Ketagalan Boulevard? Former aide lashes out at Ko Wen-je: Trampling on democracy...

Investing 香港Feb 2026

“别人恐惧我贪婪“!“Citrini恐慌”标记市场底部,...

bié rén kǒng jù wǒ tān lán ! C i t r i n i kǒng huāng biāo jì shì chǎng de bù , . . .

"Others are afraid of my greed"! Citrini Panic "Marks Market Bottom,...

Tatoeba

守财奴积聚钱财不是因为他谨慎，而是因为他贪婪。

Shǒucáinú jījù qiáncái bù shì yīnwèi tā jǐnshèn, érshì yīnwèi tā tānlán.

A miser hoards money not because he is prudent but because he is greedy.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 婪 (lán) mean in Chinese?

婪 (lán) primarily means "avaricious." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2802 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 婪 and 禁?

婪 (lán) and 禁 (jīn) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 女 vs 礻 (same 林 component).

How many strokes does 婪 have?

婪 is written with 11 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 婪?

The radical associated with 婪 is 女 (woman). This radical appears in many characters related to woman.

What are the components of 婪?

婪 is composed of: 林 (phonetic), 女 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱林女 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 婪?

Common words with 婪 include: 贪婪 (tān lán, "avaricious"); 贪婪无厌 (tān lán wú yàn, "avaricious and insatiable (idiom)"). There are over 2 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 婪 (lán)?

Several characters share the pronunciation lán: 兰 (abbr. for Lanzhou 蘭州|兰州, Gansu), 蓝 (blue), 拦 (to block sb's path), 览 (to look at), and 3 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 婪 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

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

Practice writing 婪 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