疱 (pào): pimple, acne, blister

疱 (pào) is a Chinese character meaning “pimple.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 疒 (semantic) and 包 (phonetic). It ranks #3217 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 疱 sickness. Its radical form 疒 (illness) appears in many related characters such as 病 (bìng, illness), 痛 (tòng, pain), 医 (yī, medicine).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. pimple
  2. acne
  3. blister

Etymology & Origin

疱

pictophoneticsickness

Decomposition: ⿸疒包 (layout: surround-from-upper-left)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
疱疹pào zhěnblister
水疱shuǐ pàoblister
面疱miàn pàoacne
满嘴起疱mǎn zuǐ qǐ pàoto have lips covered in blisters
单纯疱疹病毒dān chún pào zhěn bìng dúherpes simplex virus (HSV, med.)
带状疱疹noundài zhuàng pào zhěnshingles
疱疹病毒pào zhěn bìng dúherpes virus (med.)
单纯疱疹noundān chún pào zhěnherpes simplex (med.)
天疱疮tiān pào chuāng(medicine) pemphigus
痘疱dòu pàopimple
脓疱nóng pàopimple containing pus
11
Total compounds
18
As first character
45
As last character
36
As middle character

疱 appears in 11 compound words: 18 as the first character, 45 as the last, and 36 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 疱 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

疹zhěn
0.90913 co-occurrences
疫yì
0.67110 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

带状疱疹dàizhuàng pàozhěn

herpes zoster; shingles

noun

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·生活Oct 2026

但我们有一个黄金72小时原则,一旦从出疱开始错过72小时的积极治疗,后续将会很麻烦。

dàn wǒ men yǒu yī gè huáng jīn 7 2 xiǎo shí yuán zé , yī dàn cóng chū pào kāi shǐ cuò guò 7 2 xiǎo shí de jī jí zhì liáo , hòu xù jiāng huì hěn má fán .

However, we follow the "golden 72-hour rule": if you miss the 72-hour window for active treatment once the blisters appear, it will lead to serious complications later on.

中国新闻网·生活Jun 2026

夏天高频发作 汗疱疹到底是什么病 如何根治

xià tiān gāo pín fā zuò hàn pào zhěn dào dǐ shì shén me bìng rú hé gēn zhì

Frequent Outbreaks in Summer: What Exactly Is Dyshidrotic Eczema, and How Can It Be Cured?

中国新闻网·生活Jun 2026

手足口病除了口腔疱疹,手部、足部、臀部也会冒出红疹、疱疹,多数患儿还会伴随发热。

shǒu zú kǒu bìng chú le kǒu qiāng pào zhěn , shǒu bù , zú bù , tún bù yě huì mào chū hóng zhěn , pào zhěn , duō shǔ huàn ér hái huì bàn suí fā rè .

In addition to blisters in the mouth, hand, foot, and mouth disease causes red rashes and blisters to appear on the hands, feet, and buttocks; most children with the disease also experience a fever.

中国新闻网·生活May 2026

近期高发!这种手上爱长的小水疱,到底是什么?附止痒攻略→

jìn qī gāo fā ! zhè zhǒng shǒu shàng ài cháng de xiǎo shuǐ pào , dào dǐ shì shén me ? fù zhǐ yǎng gōng lüè

On the Rise Recently! What Exactly Are These Small Blisters That Often Appear on Your Hands? Plus: Tips to Relieve Itching →

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 疒 (sickness) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced pào

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 疱 (pào) mean in Chinese?
疱 (pào) primarily means "pimple." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #3217 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 疱 and 胞?
疱 (pào) and 胞 (bāo) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 疒 vs 肉 (same 包 component).
How many strokes does 疱 have?
疱 is written with 10 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 疱?
The radical associated with 疱 is 疒 (illness). This radical appears in many characters related to illness.
What are the components of 疱?
疱 is composed of: 疒 (semantic), 包 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿸疒包 with a surround-from-upper-left layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 疱?
Common words with 疱 include: 疱疹 (pào zhěn, "blister"); 水疱 (shuǐ pào, "blister"); 面疱 (miàn pào, "acne"); 满嘴起疱 (mǎn zuǐ qǐ pào, "to have lips covered in blisters"); 单纯疱疹病毒 (dān chún pào zhěn bìng dú, "herpes simplex virus (HSV, med.)"). There are over 11 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 疱 (pào)?
Several characters share the pronunciation pào: 炮 (cannon, firecracker), 泡 (bubble). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 疱 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 疱 and the traditional form is 皰.

Practice writing 疱 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.