罩 (zhào): to cover, to spread over, a cover, a shade, a hood, bamboo fish trap

罩 (zhào) is a Chinese character meaning “to cover.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 罒 (semantic) and 卓 (phonetic). It ranks #1951 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 罩 net. Its radical form 罒 (net) appears in many related characters such as 网 (wǎng, net), 置 (zhì, to install), 罚 (fá, to punish).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to cover
  2. to spread over
  3. a cover
  4. a shade
  5. a hood
  6. bamboo fish trap

Etymology & Origin

罩

pictophoneticnet

Decomposition: ⿱罒卓 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
胸罩nounxiōng zhàobrassiere (underwear)
面罩nounmiàn zhàomask
笼罩verblǒng zhàoto envelop
眼罩nounyǎn zhàoeye-patch
口罩nounkǒu zhàomask (surgical etc)
乳罩nounrǔ zhàobra
灯罩noundēng zhàocover of lamp
床罩nounchuáng zhàobedspread
罩子verbzhào zicover
奶罩nounnǎi zhàobra
罩衫nounzhào shānsmock
罩袍nounzhào páoChinese-style long robe worn as outermost garment
玻璃罩bō li zhàoglass cover
云山雾罩phraseyún shān wù zhào(lit.) enveloped in clouds and mist (idiom)
罩衣zhào yīoveralls
29
Total compounds
21
As first character
76
As last character
3
As middle character

罩 appears in 29 compound words: 21 as the first character, 76 as the last, and 3 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 罩 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

胸xiōng
0.5752,428 co-occurrences
笼lóng
0.5561,194 co-occurrences
戴dài
0.5554,628 co-occurrences
遮zhē
0.520924 co-occurrences
杯bēi
0.5031,620 co-occurrences
眼yǎn
0.4702,130 co-occurrences
口kǒu
0.46811,887 co-occurrences
箱xiāng
0.454866 co-occurrences
雾wù
0.440185 co-occurrences
佩pèi
0.4271,046 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

云山雾罩yúnshānwùzhàoHSK 7+

mountains being shrouded in clouds and mist; unclear; confusing

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

学习罩字需要反复练习,才能写得工整。

xué xí zhào zì xū yāo fǎn fù liàn xí , cái néng xiě dé gōng zhěng .

Mastering the character "罩" requires repeated practice to achieve neatness.

Orientaldaily MyMar 2026

迪拜任厨大马男子 战火阴影笼罩上班心神不宁夜难眠

dí bài rèn chú dà mǎ nán zǐ zhàn huǒ yīn yǐng lóng zhào shàng bān xīn shén bù nìng yè nán mián

Dubai's chef Malaysian man is restless at work in the shadow of war, unable to sleep at night

工商時報Feb 2026

...经典赛当心!麻疹疫情创7年新高 医曝:口罩挡不住

. . . jīng diǎn sài dāng xīn ! má 疹 yì qíng chuàng 7 nián xīn gāo yī pù : kǒu zhào dǎng bù zhù

... Classic Beware! Measles epidemic hit a 7-year high, medical exposure: masks can't stop it

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...大火 环保局提醒周边居民紧闭门窗外出戴口罩

. . . dà huǒ huán bǎo jú tí xǐng zhōu biān jū mín jǐn bì mén chuāng wài chū dài kǒu zhào

... The Environmental Protection Bureau reminded surrounding residents to close their doors and windows and wear masks when going out

東森新聞Feb 2026

快讯/浓雾笼罩!台中机场07:00起“航班全停飞”

kuài xùn nóng wù lóng zhào ! tái zhōng jī chǎng 0 7 : 0 0 qǐ háng bān quán tíng fēi

News/Thick fog shrouded! Taichung Airport from 07:00 "full suspension of flights"

中時新聞網Feb 2026

关税疑云垄罩 美股早盘变色 道指崩逾700点

guān shuì yí yún lǒng zhào měi gǔ zǎo pán biàn sè dào zhǐ bēng yú 7 0 0 diǎn

Tariffs are suspicious, U.S. stocks change color in early trading, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average collapsed more than 700 points

Tatoeba

田野和小径被雾气笼罩着。

Tiányě hé xiǎojìng bèi wùqì lǒngzhào zhe.

Mist hung over the fields and footpaths.

Tatoeba

阴霾笼罩着伦敦。

Yīnmái lǒngzhào zhe Lúndūn.

The haze enveloped London.

Tatoeba

你穿什么罩杯的内衣?

Nǐ chuān shénme zhàobēi de nèiyī?

What bra cup size do you wear?

Tatoeba

无边的白雪罩住了目所能及的一切。

Wúbiān de báixuě zhào zhù le mù suǒnéng jí de yīqiè.

Boundless snow covered all that could be seen.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 罒 (net) component

罒 Radical Family — Characters sharing the net radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhào

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 罩 (zhào) mean in Chinese?
罩 (zhào) primarily means "to cover." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1951 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 罩 and 掉?
罩 (zhào) and 掉 (diào) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 罒 vs 扌 (same 卓 component).
How many strokes does 罩 have?
罩 is written with 13 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 罩?
The radical associated with 罩 is 罒 (net). This radical appears in many characters related to net.
What are the components of 罩?
罩 is composed of: 罒 (semantic), 卓 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱罒卓 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 罩?
Common words with 罩 include: 胸罩 (xiōng zhào, "brassiere (underwear)"); 面罩 (miàn zhào, "mask"); 笼罩 (lǒng zhào, "to envelop"); 眼罩 (yǎn zhào, "eye-patch"); 口罩 (kǒu zhào, "mask (surgical etc)"). There are over 29 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 罩 (zhào)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zhào: 找 (to look for), 照 (shine, according to), 招 (to recruit, 招手), 赵 (one of the seven states during the Warring States period (476–220 BC)), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 罩 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 罩 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 罩 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.