寥 (liáo): few, sparse

寥 (liáo) is a Chinese character meaning “few, sparse.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 宀 (semantic) and 翏 (phonetic). It ranks #2805 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 寥 roof. Its radical form 宀 (roof) appears in many related characters such as 客 (kè, guest, customer), 家 (jiā, home, family), 它 (tā, it).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. few, sparse

Etymology & Origin

寥

pictophoneticroof

Decomposition: ⿱宀翏 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
寥寥无几phraseliáo liáo wú jǐ(idiom) very few
寥寥adjectiveliáo liáovery few
寂寥adjectivejì liáo(literary) quiet and desolate
寥若晨星phraseliáo ruò chén xīngrare as morning stars (idiom)
寥寥可数phraseliáo liáo kě shǔ(idiom) very few
寥落adjectiveliáo luòsparse
寥廓adjectiveliáo kuò(literary) vast
7
Total compounds
86
As first character
14
As last character
0
As middle character

寥 appears in 7 compound words: 86 as the first character, 14 as the last, and 0 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 寥 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

寂jì
0.565340 co-occurrences
几jǐ
0.521780 co-occurrences
廓kuò
0.45766 co-occurrences
无wú
0.443640 co-occurrences
只zhī
0.356288 co-occurrences
句jù
0.35462 co-occurrences
笔bǐ
0.33730 co-occurrences
数shǔ
0.324263 co-occurrences
可kě
0.319436 co-occurrences
却què
0.31636 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (3)

寥寥可数liáoliáokěshǔHSK 7+

very few

phrase
寥寥无几liáoliáowújǐHSK 7+

very few

phrase
寥若晨星liáoruòchénxīngHSK 7+

very few

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个地区的居民很寥寥,大部分年轻人都外出打工了。

Zhè gè dìqū de jūmín hěn liáoliáo, dàbùfen niánqīng rén dōu wàichū dǎgōng le.

The residents in this area are sparse; most young people have gone to work outside.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

如今,精通这种乐器演奏的人已寥寥无几。

rú jīn , jīng tōng zhè zhǒng lè qì yǎn zòu de rén yǐ liáo liáo wú jī .

Today, there are very few people who are proficient in playing this instrument.

中国新闻网·体育Aug 2026

寥寥数语,道尽了球队当时背负的巨大压力。

liáo liáo shǔ yǔ , dào jǐn le qiú duì dāng shí bèi fù de jù dà yā lì .

In just a few words, he captured the immense pressure the team was under at the time.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

他曾这么写:承德之始,平房数间;寂寥三人,泪与汗飞,蚊与蛙鸣。

tā céng zhè má xiě : chéng dé zhī shǐ , píng fáng shǔ jiān ; jì liáo sān rén , lèi yǔ hàn fēi , wén yǔ wā míng .

He once wrote: “In the early days of Chengde, there were just a few simple huts; three lonely figures, their tears and sweat flying, amid the chirping of mosquitoes and the croaking of frogs.”

爱范儿Aug 2026

距离那时,不过寥寥九个月。

jù lí nà shí , bù guò liáo liáo jiǔ gè yuè .

It has been only nine short months since then.

中国新闻网·文化Jul 2026

寥寥数行,既流露戍卒的思亲之切,亦见其赤诚担当。

liáo liáo shǔ háng , jì liú lù 戍 zú de sī qīn zhī qiē , yì jiàn qí chì chéng dān dāng .

In just a few lines, the soldier’s deep longing for his family is revealed, as is his sincere dedication and sense of responsibility.

Tatoeba

值得观看的电视节目寥寥无几。

Zhíde guānkàn de diànshìjiémù liáoliáowújǐ.

Only a few TV programs are worth watching.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 宀 (roof) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced liáo

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 寥 (liáo) mean in Chinese?
寥 (liáo) primarily means "few, sparse." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2805 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 寥 and 缪?
寥 (liáo) and 缪 (miù) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 宀 vs 纟 (same 翏 component).
How many strokes does 寥 have?
寥 is written with 14 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 寥?
The radical associated with 寥 is 宀 (roof). This radical appears in many characters related to roof.
What are the components of 寥?
寥 is composed of: 宀 (semantic), 翏 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱宀翏 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 寥?
Common words with 寥 include: 寥寥无几 (liáo liáo wú jǐ, "(idiom) very few"); 寥寥 (liáo liáo, "very few"); 寂寥 (jì liáo, "(literary) quiet and desolate"); 寥若晨星 (liáo ruò chén xīng, "rare as morning stars (idiom)"); 寥寥可数 (liáo liáo kě shǔ, "(idiom) very few"). There are over 7 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 寥 (liáo)?
Several characters share the pronunciation liáo: 料 (material), 疗 (to treat), 聊 (chat), 僚 (bureaucrat), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 寥 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 寥 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 寥 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.