愣 (lèng): to look distracted, to stare blankly, distracted

愣 (lèng) is a Chinese character meaning “to look distracted.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 忄 (semantic). It ranks #2207 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 愣 heart. Its radical form 忄 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忙 (máng, busy), 快 (kuài, fast, happy), 怎 (zěn, how).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 忄 heart12 strokesFrequency #2207忄 semantic

Definitions

to look distracted
to stare blankly
distracted

Etymology & Origin

愣

pictophoneticheart

Decomposition: ⿰忄⿱罒方 (layout: left-right)

Components:忄semantic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 愣 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
发愣	fā lèng	to stare blankly
愣头愣脑	lèng tóu lèng nǎo	rash
直愣愣	zhí lèng lèng	staring blankly
二愣子	èr lèng zi	stupid person
愣神儿	lèng shén r	to stare blankly
愣头青	lèng tóu qīng	reckless young person
斜愣眼儿	xié leng yǎn r	erhua variant of 斜愣眼[xie2 leng5 yan3]
愣说	lèng shuō	(coll.) to insist
傻不愣登	shǎ bù lèng dēng	stupid
愣劲儿	lèng jìn r	dash
装傻充愣	zhuāng shǎ chōng lèng	(idiom) to feign ignorance or stupidity
愣干	lèng gàn	to do things recklessly
斜愣眼	xié leng yǎn	to squint
登愣	dēng lèng	ta da!
傻愣愣	shǎ lèng lèng	staring stupidly

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

愣 appears in 15 compound words: 40 as the first character, 20 as the last, and 40 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 愣 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

傲ào

0.529174 co-occurrences

傻shǎ

0.50884 co-occurrences

菩pú

0.47490 co-occurrences

呆dāi

0.46642 co-occurrences

麦mài

0.449150 co-occurrences

妈mā

0.41230 co-occurrences

住zhù

0.364150 co-occurrences

记jì

0.32478 co-occurrences

充chōng

0.31436 co-occurrences

头tóu

0.28630 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

愣头愣脑lèngtóulèngnǎoHSK 7+

rash; hotheaded; reckless; slow in movement; obtuse; stunned

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

听到这个好消息，她愣里充满了喜悦。

yǐn dào zhè gě hǎo xiāo xī , tā lèng lǐ chōng mǎn le xǐ yuè .

Hearing this good news, her face lit up with joy.

EttodayMar 2026

面试牙医遭院长打枪“酸1句” 妹子愣:选妃?内行曝残酷真相

miàn shì yá yī zāo yuàn cháng dǎ qiāng suān 1 jù mèi zǐ lèng : xuǎn fēi ? nèi háng pù cán kù zhēn xiāng

TvbsMar 2026

九份房出租“进帐50万”!女友1反应他愣了:是我的收入

jiǔ fèn fáng chū zū jìn zhàng 5 0 wàn ! nǚ yǒu 1 fǎn yīng tā lèng le : shì wǒ de shōu rù

"A 500,000-yuan deposit for a rental in Jiufen!" When his girlfriend reacted, he was stunned: "That's my income."

Nownews今日新聞Mar 2026

...是它!董事长砸280万送股东现况曝光全愣

. . . shì tā ! dǒng shì cháng zá 2 8 0 wàn sòng gǔ dōng xiàn kuàng pù guāng quán lèng

...It's this! Chairman Splashes Out 2.8 Million on Shareholders—Current Situation Revealed, Leaving Everyone Speechless

EttodayFeb 2026

巷弄不念“ㄋㄨㄥˋ” 正确读音曝!家长愣:小三国语好难啊

xiàng nòng bù niàn zhèng què dòu yīn pù ! jiā cháng lèng : xiǎo sān guó yǔ hǎo nán a

The alley does not pronounce "ㄋㄨㄥˋ" correctly pronounced and exposed! Parents were stunned: Primary three is so difficult

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 愣 (lèng) mean in Chinese?

愣 (lèng) primarily means "to look distracted." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2207 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 愣 have?

愣 is written with 12 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 愣?

The radical associated with 愣 is 忄 (heart). This radical appears in many characters related to heart.

What are the components of 愣?

愣 is composed of: 忄 (semantic), undefined (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰忄⿱罒方 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 愣?

Common words with 愣 include: 发愣 (fā lèng, "to stare blankly"); 愣头愣脑 (lèng tóu lèng nǎo, "rash"); 直愣愣 (zhí lèng lèng, "staring blankly"); 二愣子 (èr lèng zi, "stupid person"); 愣神儿 (lèng shén r, "to stare blankly"). There are over 15 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 愣 (lèng)?

Several characters share the pronunciation lèng: 棱 (square beam), 冷 (cold). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 愣 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

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

Practice writing 愣 with real-time feedback

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