囊 (náng): sack, purse, pocket (for money)

囊 (náng) is a Chinese character meaning “sack.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (semantic) and 襄 (phonetic). It ranks #2010 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 囊 gate. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. sack
  2. purse
  3. pocket (for money)

Etymology & Origin

囊

pictophoneticgate

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
窝囊废nounwō nang fèi(coll.) spineless coward
气囊nounqì nángair sac
胶囊nounjiāo náng(pharm.) capsule
囊肿nounnáng zhǒngcyst (med.)
窝囊adjectivewō nangto feel vexed
智囊团nounzhì náng tuánthink tank
阴囊nounyīn nángscrotum
胆囊noundǎn nánggallbladder
慷慨解囊phrasekāng kǎi jiě nángto contribute generously (idiom)
皮囊pí nángleather bag
行囊nounxíng nángtraveling bag
毛囊nounmáo nánghair follicle
囊括verbnáng kuòto include
臭皮囊chòu pí nángthis mortal flesh
中饱私囊phrasezhōng bǎo sī nángto stuff one's pockets
77
Total compounds
16
As first character
60
As last character
25
As middle character

囊 appears in 77 compound words: 16 as the first character, 60 as the last, and 25 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 囊 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

胶jiāo
0.6081,904 co-occurrences
泡pào
0.5241,250 co-occurrences
肿zhǒng
0.519546 co-occurrences
胆dǎn
0.499458 co-occurrences
卵luǎn
0.495880 co-occurrences
括kuò
0.4924,235 co-occurrences
慷kāng
0.486206 co-occurrences
胚pēi
0.458214 co-occurrences
慨kǎi
0.447208 co-occurrences
谦qiān
0.445278 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (10)

安全气囊ānquán qìnángHSK 7+

airbag (in automobiles)

noun
鼓鼓囊囊gǔgunāngnāngHSK 7+

inflated; bloated; stuffed; bulging

adjective
锦囊妙计jǐnnángmiàojìHSK 7+

bag of tricks; cunning masterplan

phrase
酒囊饭袋jiǔ náng fàn dàiHSK 7+

wine sack, food bag (idiom); useless person, only fit for guzzling and boozing

phrase
慷慨解囊kāngkǎijiěnángHSK 7+

to make generous donations; to contribute funds generously; to help someone generously with money

phrase
囊空如洗nángkōngrúxǐHSK 7+

penniless; broke

phrase
囊中取物náng zhōng qǔ wùHSK 7+

as easy as reaching for it from a bag (idiom); in the bag; (as good as) in one's possession

phrase
囊中羞涩nángzhōngxiūsèHSK 7+

to have financial difficulties

phrase
探囊取物tànnángqǔwùHSK 7+

within one's grasp; extremely easy; like taking candy from a baby

phrase
中饱私囊zhōngbǎosīnángHSK 7+

to line one's pockets

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

妈妈囊嘱我要按时吃饭,注意身体健康。

mā mā nāng zhǔ wǒ yāo àn shí chī fàn , zhù yì shēn tī jiàn kāng .

Mom reminded me to eat on time and take care of my health.

99 健康网Feb 2026

男性生殖怎么检查?阴囊彩超能发现精索静脉曲张吗

nán xìng shēng zhí zěn má jiǎn chá ? yīn náng cǎi chāo néng fā xiàn jīng suǒ jìng mài qū zhāng ma

How to check male reproduction? Can scrotal color ultrasound detect varicocele?

99 健康网Feb 2026

宫腔内低回声有几种可能?包括妊娠囊、血块或小肌瘤吗

gōng qiāng nèi dī huí shēng yǒu jī zhǒng kě néng ? bāo kuò 妊 娠 náng , xiě kuài huò xiǎo jī liú ma

How many possibilities are there for intrauterine hypoechoia? Including gestational sacs, blood clots, or small fibroids

99 健康网Feb 2026

宫腔内无回声是怎么回事?可能是孕囊还是积液需要区分吗

gōng qiāng nèi wú huí shēng shì zěn má huí shì ? kě néng shì yùn náng hái shì jī yè xū yāo qū fēn ma

What is the lack of echo in the uterine cavity? It may be a gestational sac or an effusion that needs to be distinguished

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

台股一度闪现万元股王 这档主动ETF新兵囊括单日与近月涨幅前三名

tái gǔ yī dù shǎn xiàn wàn yuán gǔ wáng zhè dàng zhǔ dòng E T F xīn bīng náng kuò dān rì yǔ jìn yuè zhǎng fú qián sān míng

Taiwan stocks once flashed the king of 10,000 yuan stocks, and this active ETF recruit included the top three gainers in a single day and in recent months

Hypebeast. TwFeb 2026

...G design 推出马年限定联名球衣胶囊系列

. . . G d e s i g n tuī chū mǎ nián xiàn dìng lián míng qiú yī jiāo náng xì liè

... G design launched a limited edition co-branded jersey capsule series for the Year of the Horse

Tatoeba

我懂得的都已经倾囊相授了。

Wǒ dǒngde de dōu yǐjīng qīngnáng xiāng shòu le.

There's nothing more I can teach you.

Tatoeba

那个建筑物是男女都可以住宿的胶囊酒店。

Nàge jiànzhùwù shì nánnǚ dōu kěyǐ zhùsù de jiāonáng jiǔdiàn.

This building is a capsule hotel lodging men and women.

Tatoeba

他连一句重话都不敢回,真是个窝囊废。

Tā lián yījù zhònghuà dōu bù gǎn huí, zhēnshi gè wōnangfèi.

He doesn't even dare to reply to a harsh word. He's such a coward.

Tatoeba

父亲一生刚强,最痛恨的就是儿子活成个窝囊废的样子。

Fùqīn yìshēng gāngqiáng, zuì tònghèn de jiùshì érzi huó chéng gè wōnangfèi de yàngzi.

The father was strong all his life, and what he hated most was seeing his son live like a loser.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 口 (gate) component

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 囊 (náng) mean in Chinese?
囊 (náng) primarily means "sack." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2010 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 囊 and 壤?
囊 (náng) and 壤 (rǎng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 口 vs 土 (same 襄 component).
How many strokes does 囊 have?
囊 is written with 22 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 囊?
The radical associated with 囊 is 口 (mouth). This radical appears in many characters related to mouth.
What are the components of 囊?
囊 is composed of: 口 (semantic), 襄 (phonetic). Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 囊?
Common words with 囊 include: 窝囊废 (wō nang fèi, "(coll.) spineless coward"); 气囊 (qì náng, "air sac"); 胶囊 (jiāo náng, "(pharm.) capsule"); 囊肿 (náng zhǒng, "cyst (med.)"); 窝囊 (wō nang, "to feel vexed"). There are over 77 compound words containing this character.
Is 囊 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 囊 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 囊 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.