哇 (wā): Wow!, sound of a child's crying, sound of vomiting
哇 (wā) is a Chinese character meaning “wow!.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (semantic) and 圭 (phonetic). It ranks #2354 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 哇 mouth. 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).
Definitions
- Wow!
- sound of a child's crying
- sound of vomiting
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 哇 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 哇哇 | wā wā | sound of crying |
| 哇塞interjection | wā sāi | (slang) wow! |
| 爪哇proper-noun | zhǎo wā | Java (island of Indonesia) |
| 好哇interjection | hǎo wā | hurray! |
| 哇沙比noun | wā shā bǐ | wasabi (loanword) (Tw) |
| 松巴哇岛 | sōng bā wā dǎo | Sumbawa, Indonesian island east of Java |
| 卡哇依 | kǎ wā yī | variant of 卡哇伊 |
| 松巴哇 | sōng bā wā | Sumbawa, Indonesian island east of Java |
| 哇沙米noun | wā shā mǐ | wasabi (loanword) (Tw) |
| 卡哇伊adjective | kǎ wā yī | cute |
| 哇靠interjection | wā kào | (Tw) whoa! |
| 爪哇八哥 | zhǎo wā bā ge | (bird species of China) Javan myna (Acridotheres javanicus) |
| 中爪哇 | zhōng zhǎo wā | Central Java, province of Indonesia |
| 爪哇国noun | zhǎo wā guó | ancient state located in present-day Java 爪哇 |
| 西爪哇 | xī zhǎo wā | West Java, province of Indonesia |
哇 appears in 19 compound words: 32 as the first character, 26 as the last, and 42 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 哇 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
请哇下这杯茶，解解渴再继续工作。
qǐng wā xià zhè bēi chá , xiè xiè kě zài jì xù gōng zuò .
Please pour yourself a cup of tea to quench your thirst before getting back to work.
那种一句话出攻略的模式，或许能给人一种“哇，好厉害”的震撼，但我不太愿意用。
nà zhǒng yī jù huà chū gōng lüè de mó shì , huò xǔ néng gěi rén yī zhǒng wā , hǎo lì hài de zhèn hàn , dàn wǒ bù tài yuàn yì yòng .
That style of giving walkthroughs in a single sentence might leave people in awe, thinking, “Wow, that’s impressive,” but I’m not really keen on using it.
“读信女”陈梦琪、本地网红创作者@麦乐瑟@哇乐机等，也都是地道的抖音创作者。
dòu xìn nǚ chén mèng 琪 , běn dì wǎng hóng chuàng zuò zhě mài lè sè wā lè jī děng , yě dōu shì dì dào de dǒu yīn chuàng zuò zhě .
Chen Mengqi, known as “The Letter Reader,” and local social media influencers such as @MaiLeSi and @WaLeJi are all authentic TikTok creators.
我们爬到了仙女滩附近，站在高处看了位于峡谷之中的东哇村，景色确实不错。
wǒ men pá dào le xiān nǚ tān fù jìn , zhàn zài gāo chǔ kàn le wèi yú xiá gǔ zhī zhōng de dōng wā cūn , jǐng sè què shí bù cuò .
We climbed up to a spot near Xiannv Beach and looked down from the heights at Dongwa Village nestled in the canyon—the view was truly beautiful.
...变”成Hello Kitty,这波操作太哇塞了!
. . . biàn chéng H e l l o K i t t y , zhè bō cāo zuò tài wā sāi le !
...transforming into Hello Kitty—that's just amazing!
萌主驾到!“吉伊卡哇”首登热气球嘉年华 限量周边免费送
méng zhǔ jià dào ! jí yī kǎ wā shǒu dēng rè qì qiú jiā nián huá xiàn liàng zhōu biān miǎn fèi sòng
The Cute King Has Arrived! "Jiika Wa" Makes Its Debut at the Hot Air Balloon Festival—Limited-Edition Merchandise Given Away for Free
“你付了多少钱？” “大概二十欧元。” “哇！好便宜。”
"Nǐ fù le duōshao qián?" "Dàgài èr shí ōuyuán." "Wā! Hǎo piányi."
"How much did you pay for this?" "About 20 euros." "Wow! That's incredibly cheap."
哇，她真是神速啊，真让我印象深刻！
Wā, tā zhēnshi shénsù ā, zhēn ràng wǒ yìnxiàng shēnkè!
Wow, she’s got a lot of pace, I’m impressed!
哇，你很幸运的！
Wā, nǐ hěn xìngyùn de!
Wow, you're so lucky!
他就像七月四日的烟火一样耀眼！我心想：「哇！」
Tā jiù xiàng Qīyuè sì rì de yānhuǒ yīyàng yàoyǎn! wǒ xīnxiǎng:「 wā!」
He was bright like the 4th of July! "Wow!", I thought!
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 哇 (wā) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 哇 and 街?
How many strokes does 哇 have?
What is the radical of 哇?
What are the components of 哇?
What are common words containing 哇?
What characters sound the same as 哇 (wā)?
Is 哇 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 哇 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.