(wàng): absurd, fantastic, presumptuous

(wàng) is a Chinese character meaning “absurd.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (phonetic) and (semantic). It ranks #2061 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, woman. Its radical form (woman) appears in many related characters such as (, woman), (nǎi, grandmother, milk), (, she).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. absurd
  2. fantastic
  3. presumptuous

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticwoman

Decomposition: ⿱亡女 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
wàng xiǎngto attempt vainly
qīng jǔ wàng dòngto act blindly without thinking (idiom)
kuáng wàngegotistical
kuáng wàng zì dàarrogant and conceited
chī xīn wàng xiǎngto be carried away by one's wishful thinking (idiom)
wàng túto try in vain
wàng zì zūn dàridiculous self-importance (idiom)
wàng dòngto rush indiscriminately into action
wàng zì fěi bóto be unduly humble (idiom)
dǎn dà wàng wéidaring
wàng chēngto make a false and unwarranted declaration
zì yì wàng wéito behave unscrupulously
wàng yánlies
xū wàngfabricated
wàng yǔto tell lies
31
Total compounds
65
As first character
13
As last character
23
As middle character

appears in 31 compound words: 65 as the first character, 13 as the last, and 23 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

xiǎng
0.59221,228 co-occurrences
kuáng
0.5454,242 co-occurrences
0.436540 co-occurrences
gǎn
0.427978 co-occurrences
zhèng
0.4151,596 co-occurrences
0.400288 co-occurrences
miù
0.39084 co-occurrences
0.378438 co-occurrences
0.3773,288 co-occurrences
xié
0.37266 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (12)

chīxīnwàngxiǎngHSK 7+

to obsessively fantasize about something that cannot come true

phrase
dǎn dà wàng wéiHSK 7+

daring; presumptuous; daredevil

phrase
gū wàng yán zhīHSK 7+

to just talk for the sake of talking

phrase
kuángwàngzìdàHSK 7+

egotistical; wildly arrogant; self-important

phrase
qīngjǔ-wàngdòngHSK 7+

to act rashly and blindly

phrase
sì yì wàng wéiHSK 7+

see 恣意妄為|恣意妄为[zi4 yi4 wang4 wei2]

phrase
穿wàng shēng chuān záoHSK 7+

a forced analogy (idiom); to jump to an unwarranted conclusion

phrase
wàng xià cí huángHSK 7+

to alter a text indiscriminately (idiom); to make irresponsible criticism

phrase
wàng yán wàng tīngHSK 7+

unwarranted talk the listener can take or leave (idiom); sth not to be taken too seriously

phrase
wàngzìzūndàHSK 7+

to be arrogant; to be self-important; to suffer from megalomania

phrase
wàngzìfěibóHSK 7+

to excessively see oneself as inferior; to look down upon oneself excessively

phrase
zìyìwàngwéiHSK 7+

to act recklessly or arbitrarily without restraint

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个孩从小就展现出非凡的音乐天赋。

zhè gě wàng hái cóng xiǎo jiù zhǎn xiàn chū fēi fán de yīn lè tiān fù .

This prodigy displayed extraordinary musical talent from a young age.

BastillepostFeb 2026

...高强度运动可预防约6%死亡 印证中医“不作劳”运动延寿智慧

. . . gāo qiáng dù yùn dòng kě yù fáng yuē 6 sǐ wáng yìn zhèng zhōng yī bù wàng zuò láo yùn dòng yán shòu zhì huì

... High-intensity exercise can prevent about 6% of deaths, confirming the wisdom of traditional Chinese medicine to "don't work in vain" exercise to prolong life

Hk01.comFeb 2026

...装备出口 中方:坚决抵制日本新型军国主义

. . . zhuāng bèi chū kǒu zhōng fāng : jiān jué dǐ zhì rì běn xīn xíng jūn guó zhǔ yì wàng dòng

... Equipment exports China: Resolutely resist Japan's new militaristic reckless actions

Tatoeba

想。上床睡觉去!

Nǐ wàngxiǎng. shàngchuáng shuìjiào qù!

You're delusional. Go to bed!

Tatoeba

你不可以下结论。

Nǐ bù kěyǐ wàng xià jiélùn.

You must not jump to conclusions.

Tatoeba

他的演说十分狂

Tā de yǎnshuō shífēn kuángwàng.

His speech is delirious.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced wàng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 妄 (wàng) mean in Chinese?
妄 (wàng) primarily means "absurd." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2061 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 妄 and 芒?
妄 (wàng) and 芒 (máng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 女 vs 艹 (same 亡 component).
How many strokes does 妄 have?
妄 is written with 6 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 妄?
The radical associated with 妄 is 女 (woman). This radical appears in many characters related to woman.
What are the components of 妄?
妄 is composed of: 亡 (phonetic), 女 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱亡女 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 妄?
Common words with 妄 include: 妄想 (wàng xiǎng, "to attempt vainly"); 轻举妄动 (qīng jǔ wàng dòng, "to act blindly without thinking (idiom)"); 狂妄 (kuáng wàng, "egotistical"); 狂妄自大 (kuáng wàng zì dà, "arrogant and conceited"); 痴心妄想 (chī xīn wàng xiǎng, "to be carried away by one's wishful thinking (idiom)"). There are over 31 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 妄 (wàng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation wàng: 忘 (to forget), 汪 (expanse of water), 亡 (to die), 王 (king or monarch), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 妄 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 妄 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native 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.