尢

Lame Radical (尢)

wāng · 3 strokes

The lame radical (尢) is a radical found in Chinese. It appears in 5 characters related to lame and associated concepts. 5 characters: 1 in HSK 2, 1 in HSK 4, 2 in HSK 6, 1 outside the HSK syllabus. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system. Character data is based on the HSK 3.0 Standard (CLEC 2022 syllabus).

Radical vs. Component: 尢 is also a character component. As a radical, it classifies characters in dictionaries. As a component, it appears as a building block contributing meaning, sound, or structure. For component-specific details including role analysis and position patterns, see the Lame Component (尢) page.

Lame Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count3
Total Characters5
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 6 (2 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes8
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Lame Radical Characters

HSK 2 (1 characters)

就jiù(after a suppositional clause) in that case

HSK 4 (1 characters)

尤yóuoutstanding

HSK 6 (2 characters)

尬gà(bound form) embarrassing尴gānused in 尷尬|尴尬

Not in HSK (1 characters)

尧yáoYao or Tang Yao (c. 2200 BC), one of the Five legendary Emperors 五帝, second son of Di Ku 帝嚳|帝喾

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the lame radical mean in Chinese characters?
The lame radical (尢) signals a semantic connection to lame-related concepts. When you see 尢 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves lame or associated ideas. It appears in 5 characters in the HSK character set. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system, the traditional standard for organizing Chinese characters.
How many characters use the lame radical?
There are 4 characters with the lame radical (尢) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 1 in HSK 2, 1 in HSK 4, 2 in HSK 6. Another character is outside the HSK syllabus. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental lame-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common lame radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the lame radical (尢) are: 就 (jiù, "(after a suppositional clause) in that case"), 尤 (yóu, "outstanding"), 尴 (gān, "used in 尷尬|尴尬"), 尬 (gà, "(bound form) embarrassing"), 尧 (yáo, "Yao or Tang Yao (c. 2200 BC), one of the Five legendary Emperors 五帝, second son of Di Ku 帝嚳|帝喾"). These high-frequency characters are among the first lame-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include lame radical characters?
Characters with the lame radical (尢) appear across 3 HSK levels: 1 in HSK 2, 1 in HSK 4, 2 in HSK 6. The largest concentration is at HSK 6 with 2 characters. Another character is outside the HSK syllabus. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common lame-related characters, while advanced levels add specialized or literary terms.

Sources & Standards

Radical classifications on this page follow the Kangxi radical system (康熙部首), the standard set of 214 radicals codified in the Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典, 1716). Character data is based on the HSK 3.0 Standard (《国际中文教育中文水平等级标准》), published by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, 2022 revision.