略 (lüè): strategy, slightly

略 (lüè) is a Chinese character meaning “strategy, slightly.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 田 (semantic) and 各 (phonetic). It ranks #704 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 略 farm. Its radical form 田 (field) appears in many related characters such as 电 (diàn, lightning), 男 (nán, male), 由 (yóu, to follow).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. strategy, slightly

Etymology & Origin

略

pictophoneticfarm

Decomposition: ⿰田各 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 略

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
策略nouncè lüèstrategy6
忽略verbhū lüèto neglect6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
战略nounzhàn lüèstrategy
侵略verbqīn lüèto invade
省略verbshěng lüèto leave out
领略verblǐng lüèto have a taste of
伽利略proper-nounjiā lì lüèGalileo Galilei (1564-1642), Italian scientist
侵略者nounqīn lüè zhěaggressors
粗略adjectivecū lüèrough (not precise or accurate)
略知一二phraselüè zhī yī èr(idiom) to know just a little
略微adverblüè wēia little bit
略带verblüè dàito have (an attribute) to a small degree
简略adjectivejiǎn lüèsimple
战略性nounzhàn lüè xìngstrategic
省略号nounshěng lüè hào(punctuation) ellipsis
战略家nounzhàn lüè jiāa strategist
谋略nounmóu lüèstratagem
96
Total compounds
25
As first character
46
As last character
29
As middle character

略 appears in 96 compound words: 25 as the first character, 46 as the last, and 29 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 略 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

策cè
0.62140,479 co-occurrences
忽hū
0.58313,537 co-occurrences
侵qīn
0.54123,142 co-occurrences
战zhàn
0.51734,823 co-occurrences
攻gōng
0.46510,522 co-occurrences
粗cū
0.4542,892 co-occurrences
靖jìng
0.44611 co-occurrences
儒rú
0.4181,822 co-occurrences
翼yì
0.41414 co-occurrences
韧rèn
0.41216 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (11)

安大略湖Āndàlüè HúHSK 6+

Ontario, Lake Ontario (a large lake in North America, one of the Great Lakes)

攻城略地gōngchénglüèdìHSK 6+

alternative form of 攻城掠地 (gōngchénglüèdì)

phrase
略迹原情lüèjìyuánqíngHSK 6+

to forgive and forget

phrase
略见一斑lüè jiàn yī bānHSK 7+

lit. to glimpse just one spot (of the leopard) (idiom); fig. to get an inkling of the whole picture

phrase
略胜一筹lüèshèngyīchóuHSK 6+

to be a notch above; to be (slightly) superior

phrase
略识之无lüè shí zhī wúHSK 6+

semiliterate; only knows words of one syllable; lit. to know only 之 and 無|无

phrase
略知皮毛lüè zhī pí máoHSK 6+

slight knowledge of sth; superficial acquaintance with a subject; a smattering

phrase
略知一二lüèzhīyī'èrHSK 6+

to know a thing or two about something

phrase
疏谋少略shū móu shǎo lüèHSK 7+

(idiom) unable to plan; inept at strategy

phrase
雄才大略xióngcáidàlüèHSK 6+

to have outstanding ability and great strategy

phrase

Showing 10 of 11 idioms containing 略.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个战略略微调整了方向,以适应市场变化。

Zhè gè zhànlüè lüèwēi tiáozhěng le fāngxiàng, yǐ shìyìng shìchǎng biànhuà.

This strategy has been slightly adjusted to adapt to market changes.

News For ChineseFeb 2026

2025年底加州住房可負擔性略有提高

nián de jiā zhōu zhù fáng kě 負 擔 xìng lüè yǒu tí gāo

By the end of 2025, California's housing affordability will see a slight improvement.

Irna ChineseFeb 2026

伊朗武装部队总参谋长:敌人试图以“战略消耗”动摇体制、打击民众士气

yī lǎng wǔ zhuāng bù duì zǒng cān móu cháng dí rén shì tú yǐ zhàn lüè xiāo hào dòng yáo tǐ zhì dǎ jī mín zhòng shì qì

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces: The enemy seeks to undermine the regime and demoralize the people through "strategic attrition."

BastillepostFeb 2026

大戰略,大交易,川普訪華

dà 戰 lüè , dà jiāo yì , chuān pǔ 訪 華

Grand Strategy, Grand Deal: Trump's Visit to China

经济观察网-首页Feb 2026

“涨价”策略失灵叠加“黑天鹅”事件,雀巢忙“瘦身”自...

zhǎng jià cè lüè shī líng dié jiā hēi tiān é shì jiàn , qiāo cháo máng shòu shēn zì . . .

"Price increase" strategy failed to superimpose "black swan" event, Nestle busy "thinning" since...

LtnFeb 2026

最高法院推翻川普關稅 美策略專家:反增加中國競爭力

zuì gāo fǎ yuàn tuī fān chuān pǔ 關 稅 měi cè lüè 專 jiā fǎn zēng jiā zhōng 國 競 爭 lì

Supreme Court overturns Trump's tariffs, U.S. strategist says it will increase China's competitiveness

Orientaldaily MyFeb 2026

杨巧双访闽听民意 推动策略发展旅游经济

yáng qiǎo shuāng fǎng 闽 tīng mín yì tuī dòng cè lüè fā zhǎn lǚ yóu jīng jì

Yang Qiaoshuang visits Fujian to listen to public opinion and promote the strategic development of tourism economy.

Tatoeba

希望不是一种策略。

Xīwàng bù shì yīzhǒng cèlüè.

Hope is not a strategy.

Tatoeba

诚实不总是最好的策略。

Chéngshí bù zǒngshì zuì hǎo de cèlüè.

Honesty is not always the best policy.

Tatoeba

他喝了酒,略有醉意。

Tā hē le jiǔ, lüè yǒu zuì yì.

He drunk wine, so he is slightly drunk.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 田 (farm) component

田 Radical Family — Characters sharing the field radical

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 略 (lüè) mean in Chinese?
略 (lüè) primarily means "strategy, slightly." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #704 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 略 and 路?
略 (lüè) and 路 (lù) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 田 vs 足 (same 各 component).
How many strokes does 略 have?
略 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 略?
The radical associated with 略 is 田 (field). This radical appears in many characters related to field.
What are the components of 略?
略 is composed of: 田 (semantic), 各 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰田各 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 略?
Common words with 略 include: 策略 (cè lüè, "strategy"); 忽略 (hū lüè, "to neglect"); 战略 (zhàn lüè, "strategy"); 侵略 (qīn lüè, "to invade"); 省略 (shěng lüè, "to leave out"). There are over 96 compound words containing this character.
Is 略 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 略 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 略 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.