昭 (zhāo): bright, clear

昭 (zhāo) is a Chinese character meaning “bright.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical 日 (sun). It ranks #2833 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 日 sun9 strokesFrequency #2833

Definitions

bright
clear

Stroke Order

Practice writing 昭 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
臭名昭著	chòu míng zhāo zhù	notorious
昭和	zhāo hé	Shōwa, Japanese era name, corresponding to the reign (1925-1989) of emperor Hirohito 裕仁[Yu4 ren2]
昭雪	zhāo xuě	to exonerate
昭示	zhāo shì	to declare publicly
昭然若揭	zhāo rán ruò jiē	abundantly clear
王昭君	wáng zhāo jūn	Wang Zhaojun (52-19 BC), famous beauty at the court of Han emperor Yuan 漢元帝\|汉元帝[Han4 Yuan2 di4], one of the four lege...
司马昭	sī mǎ zhāo	Sima Zhao (211-265), military general and statesman of Cao Wei 曹魏[Cao2 Wei4]
司马昭之心路人皆知	sī mǎ zhāo zhī xīn lù rén jiē zhī	lit. Sima Zhao's intentions are obvious to everyone (idiom)
昭通市	zhāo tōng shì	Zhaotong, prefecture-level city in Yunnan Province 雲南省\|云南省[Yun2 nan2 Sheng3]
恶名昭著	è míng zhāo zhù	(idiom) notorious
昭阳区	zhāo yáng qū	Zhaoyang district of Zhaotong city 昭通市[Zhao1 tong1 shi4], Yunnan
昭通	zhāo tōng	see 昭通市[Zhao1 tong1 Shi4]
昭平	zhāo píng	see 昭平縣\|昭平县[Zhao1 ping2 Xian4]
昭觉	zhāo jué	see 昭覺縣\|昭觉县[Zhao1 jue2 Xian4]
昭平县	zhāo píng xiàn	Zhaoping, a county in Hezhou City 賀州市\|贺州市[He4 zhou1 Shi4], Guangxi

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

昭 appears in 29 compound words: 59 as the first character, 3 as the last, and 38 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (8)

臭名昭彰chòu míng zhāo zhāngHSK 7+

notorious for his misdeeds (idiom); infamous

phrase

臭名昭着chòumíngzhāozhùHSK 5+

notorious

phrase

恶名昭彰èmíngzhāozhāngHSK 7+

notorious, criminals doing all kinds of crimes and make their conducts well known

phrase

恶名昭着èmíngzhāozhùHSK 6+

notorious

phrase

昭然若揭zhāoránruòjiēHSK 7+

to be all too obvious; to be as clear as the sun at noonday

phrase

众目昭彰zhòng mù zhāo zhāngHSK 7+

lit. the masses are sharp-eyed (idiom); fig. one is subjected to the scrutiny of the general public

phrase

跌宕昭彰diē dàng zhāo zhāngHSK 7+

flowing (of prose); free

phrase

昭披耶河ZhāopīyéhéHSK 6+

Chao Phraya (river in Thailand)

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

昭照充足的地方，庄稼长得特别好。

zhāo zhào chōng zú de dì fāng , zhuāng jià cháng dé tè bié hǎo .

In areas with plenty of sunlight, the crops grow exceptionally well.

LtnApr 2026

名家分享~陈昭仁》京华城案的公播为何不包括交互诘问?

míng jiā fēn xiǎng chén zhāo rén jīng huá chéng àn de gōng bō wéi hé bù bāo kuò jiāo hù 诘 wèn ?

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 昭 (zhāo) mean in Chinese?

昭 (zhāo) primarily means "bright." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2833 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 昭 and 暧?

昭 (zhāo) and 暧 (ài) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 昭 (bright) vs 暧 (dim).

How many strokes does 昭 have?

昭 is written with 9 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 昭?

The radical associated with 昭 is 日 (sun). This radical appears in many characters related to sun.

What are common words containing 昭?

Common words with 昭 include: 臭名昭著 (chòu míng zhāo zhù, "notorious"); 昭和 (zhāo hé, "Shōwa, Japanese era name, corresponding to the reign (1925-1989) of emperor Hirohito 裕仁[Yu4 ren2]"); 昭雪 (zhāo xuě, "to exonerate"); 昭示 (zhāo shì, "to declare publicly"); 昭然若揭 (zhāo rán ruò jiē, "abundantly clear"). There are over 29 compound words containing this character.

Is 昭 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

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

Practice writing 昭 with real-time feedback

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