琐 (suǒ): fragmentary

琐 (suǒ) is a Chinese character meaning “fragmentary.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 王 (semantic). It ranks #3078 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 琐 jade. Its radical form 王 (jade) appears in many related characters such as 现 (xiàn, to appear), 球 (qiú, ball used for playing games (variant of 球[qiu2])), 环 (huán, ring).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 王 jade11 strokesFrequency #3078王 semantic

Definitions

fragmentary

Etymology & Origin

琐

pictophoneticjade

Decomposition: ⿰王⿱⺌贝 (layout: left-right)

Components:王semantic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 琐 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
琐事	suǒ shì	trifle
猥琐	wěi suǒ	wretched (esp. appearance)
琐碎	suǒ suì	trifling
繁琐	fán suǒ	many and complicated
烦琐	fán suǒ	tedious
琐细	suǒ xì	trivial
琐罗亚斯德教	suǒ luó yà sī dé jiào	Zoroastrianism
琐罗亚斯特	suǒ luó yà sī tè	Zoroaster
琐罗亚斯德	suǒ luó yà sī dé	Zoroaster, Zarathustra or Zarathushtra (c. 1200 BC), Persian prophet and founder of Zoroastrianism
琐记	suǒ jì	fragmentary recollections
琐闻	suǒ wén	news items
琐屑	suǒ xiè	trivial matters

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

琐 appears in 12 compound words: 75 as the first character, 25 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 琐 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

繁fán

0.5652,412 co-occurrences

碎suì

0.522960 co-occurrences

屑xiè

0.473156 co-occurrences

烦fán

0.456114 co-occurrences

梦mèng

0.427282 co-occurrences

冗rǒng

0.42254 co-occurrences

暄xuān

0.41230 co-occurrences

炉lú

0.39478 co-occurrences

亚yà

0.3911,086 co-occurrences

罗luó

0.3911,098 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

琐字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。

suǒ zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .

The way the character "琐" is written is quite unique, and it really left an impression on me.

SmzdmApr 2026

从繁琐家务中解放的智能助手

cóng fán suǒ jiā wù zhōng jiě fàng de zhì néng zhù shǒu

A smart assistant that frees you from tedious household chores

光明网_新闻视野、文化视角、思想深度、理论高度Apr 2026

新见《涿州儒学藏书记》残石琐谈

xīn jiàn 涿 zhōu rú xué zàng shū jì cán shí suǒ tán

A Few Remarks on the Fragmentary Stele from the Newly Discovered *Records of the Confucian Academy in Zhuozhou*

Orientaldaily MyApr 2026

油不够不能进!汶莱新规繁琐入境关卡大排长龙

yóu bù gòu bù néng jìn ! 汶 lái xīn guī fán suǒ rù jìng guān kǎ dà pái cháng lóng

"No fuel, no entry!" Brunei's new regulations are cumbersome, causing long lines at border checkpoints

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Feb 2026

交流琐事探讨哲学互相点赞,AI开始“社交”...

jiāo liú suǒ shì tàn tǎo zhé xué hù xiāng diǎn zàn , A I kāi shǐ shè jiāo . . .

Exchange trivia, discuss philosophy, like each other, and AI begins to "socialize"...

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 琐 (suǒ) mean in Chinese?

琐 (suǒ) primarily means "fragmentary." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #3078 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 琐 and 肖?

琐 (suǒ) and 肖 (xiào) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 王 vs 肉 (same ⺌ component).

How many strokes does 琐 have?

琐 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 琐?

The radical associated with 琐 is 王 (jade). This radical appears in many characters related to jade.

What are the components of 琐?

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

What are common words containing 琐?

Common words with 琐 include: 琐事 (suǒ shì, "trifle"); 猥琐 (wěi suǒ, "wretched (esp. appearance)"); 琐碎 (suǒ suì, "trifling"); 繁琐 (fán suǒ, "many and complicated"); 烦琐 (fán suǒ, "tedious"). There are over 12 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 琐 (suǒ)?

Several characters share the pronunciation suǒ: 锁 (to lock). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 琐 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

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

Practice writing 琐 with real-time feedback

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