妆 (zhuāng): (of a woman) to adorn oneself, makeup, adornment

妆 (zhuāng) is a Chinese character meaning “(of a woman) to adorn oneself.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丬 (phonetic) and 女 (semantic). It ranks #2517 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 妆 woman. Its radical form 女 (woman) appears in many related characters such as 女 (nǚ, woman), 奶 (nǎi, grandmother, milk), 她 (tā, she).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (of a woman) to adorn oneself
  2. makeup
  3. adornment

Etymology & Origin

妆

pictophoneticwoman

Decomposition: ⿰丬女 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 妆

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
化妆verbhuà zhuāngto put on makeup6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
化妆品nounhuà zhuāng pǐncosmetic
化妆师nounhuà zhuāng shīmakeup artist
梳妆台nounshū zhuāng táidressing table
嫁妆nounjià zhuangdowry
化妆室nounhuà zhuāng shìdressing room
梳妆verbshū zhuāngto dress and groom oneself
浓妆艳抹phrasenóng zhuāng yàn mǒto apply makeup conspicuously (idiom)
卸妆verbxiè zhuāngto remove makeup
淡妆noundàn zhuānglight makeup
化妆舞会nounhuà zhuāng wǔ huìmasquerade
化妆水nounhuà zhuāng shuǐskin toner
妆点verbzhuāng diǎnto decorate
美妆měi zhuāngbeauty products
药妆店nounyào zhuāng diàndrugstore
整妆zhěng zhuāngto touch up one's makeup
33
Total compounds
18
As first character
52
As last character
30
As middle character

妆 appears in 33 compound words: 18 as the first character, 52 as the last, and 30 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 妆 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

梳shū
0.571354 co-occurrences
嫁jià
0.560956 co-occurrences
化huà
0.5185,002 co-occurrences
品pǐn
0.4732,578 co-occurrences
浓nóng
0.409106 co-occurrences
艳yàn
0.39536 co-occurrences
肤fū
0.39332 co-occurrences
脸liǎn
0.37942 co-occurrences
柜guì
0.37224 co-occurrences
师shī
0.362372 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

淡妆浓抹dàn zhuāng nóng mǒHSK 7+

in light or heavy makeup (idiom)

phrase
浓妆艳抹nóngzhuāngyànmǒHSK 7+

to wear heavy make-up; to be caked in make-up

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个妆孩从小就展现出非凡的音乐天赋。

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

This child has shown extraordinary musical talent since early childhood.

Nownews今日新聞Mar 2026

特企/KC SKIN获“美妆米其林”必买认证

tè qǐ K C S K I N huò měi zhuāng mǐ qí lín bì mǎi rèn zhèng

Feature/KC SKIN Earns "Must-Buy" Certification from the "Michelin Guide of Beauty"

Am730Mar 2026

...粉底液 记者实测养肤粉底液!养肤之余超贴妆 打造全天候透亮肌

. . . fěn de yè jì zhě shí cè yǎng fū fěn de yè ! yǎng fū zhī yú chāo tiē zhuāng dǎ zào quán tiān hòu tòu liàng jī

... Liquid foundation The reporter measured the skin nourishing foundation! In addition to nourishing the skin, it is super makeup to create all-day translucent skin

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...史上的今天/1961年美国美容专家示范化妆 大使夫人当模特儿

. . . shǐ shàng de jīn tiān 1 9 6 1 nián měi guó měi róng zhuān jiā shì fàn huà zhuāng dà shǐ fū rén dāng mó tè ér

... Today in history/1961 American beauty experts demonstrate makeup, and the ambassador's wife is a model

TvbsFeb 2026

邱偲琹揭秘2026妆容关键字 妆前急救“5分钟小脸”诀窍公开

邱 偲 琹 jiē mì 2 0 2 6 zhuāng róng guān jiàn zì zhuāng qián jí jiù 5 fēn zhōng xiǎo liǎn jué qiào gōng kāi

Qiu Siqin reveals the secret of 2026 makeup keywords The trick of pre-makeup first aid "5-minute small face" is revealed

百度新闻Feb 2026

春运进行时|为二次元乘客开辟临时卸妆区 桂林公园站..

chūn yùn jìn háng shí wéi èr cì yuán chéng kè kāi pì lín shí xiè zhuāng qū guì lín gōng yuán zhàn . .

During the Spring Festival, a temporary makeup removal area was opened for two-dimensional passengers Guilin Park Station:

Tatoeba

男孩化妆没有什么问题。

Nánhái huà zhuāng méiyǒu shénme wèntí.

There is nothing wrong with boys wearing cosmetics.

Tatoeba

你很美, 甚至不必使用化妆品。

Nǐ hěn měi, shènzhì bù bì shǐyòng huàzhuāngpǐn.

You are so beautiful, you do not need to use makeup.

Tatoeba

她从不化妆, 但总是看起来很迷人。

Tā cóngbù huàzhuāng, dàn zǒngshì kànqǐlai hěn mírén.

She never wears makeup, but she always looks very charming.

Tatoeba

演员的皮肤是化过妆的。

Yǎnyuán de pífū shì huà guo zhuāng de.

The actress' skin has makeup on it.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 女 (woman) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhuāng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 妆 (zhuāng) mean in Chinese?
妆 (zhuāng) primarily means "(of a woman) to adorn oneself." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #2517 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 妆 and 奖?
妆 (zhuāng) and 奖 (jiǎng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 女 vs 大 (same 丬 component).
How many strokes does 妆 have?
妆 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 妆?
The radical associated with 妆 is 女 (woman). This radical appears in many characters related to woman.
What are the components of 妆?
妆 is composed of: 丬 (phonetic), 女 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰丬女 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 妆?
Common words with 妆 include: 化妆 (huà zhuāng, "to put on makeup"); 化妆品 (huà zhuāng pǐn, "cosmetic"); 化妆师 (huà zhuāng shī, "makeup artist"); 梳妆台 (shū zhuāng tái, "dressing table"); 嫁妆 (jià zhuang, "dowry"). There are over 33 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 妆 (zhuāng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zhuāng: 状 ((bound form) form), 壮 (Zhuang ethnic group of Guangxi, the PRC's second most numerous ethnic group), 装 (dress, install), 庄 (village, manor), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 妆 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 妆 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 妆 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.