好 (hǎo) means "good, well" with 6 strokes, radical 女 (woman), HSK 1 on the new exam.
Pronunciation
Meaning
Primary: good
Other meanings:
- well
Etymology
Oracle-bone origin
好 is an oracle-bone compound of 女 (a kneeling woman) and 子 (a swaddled child). The early graph showed a mother beside or holding her child, and the pairing itself conveyed the idea of something desirable or fortunate. Most scholars read it as an associative compound rather than a phono-semantic one.
Form evolution
From oracle bone through bronze script the two components stayed side by side, with the woman figure gradually losing her curved kneeling posture. Seal script regularised 女 on the left and 子 on the right, and clerical script flattened the rounded strokes into the boxy shape we see today. Modern 楷书 preserves the left-right layout with no component merging.
How the meaning evolved
The earliest attested sense is 'a mother with her child', extended quickly to 'beautiful, fine, good'. Classical texts already use it adjectivally for anything excellent or pleasing, and the verb reading hào 'to love, to be fond of' is equally old. Modern Mandarin keeps both readings, with hǎo (good) dominant and hào (to like) surviving in words like 爱好 and 好奇.
Cultural note
The hào reading is preserved in 好色 'lecherous' and 好学 'studious', where the character functions as a verb of preference rather than an adjective. Learners often assume 好 always means 'good', so compounds like these can be confusing at first.
Mnemonic
A woman and child together — good
Decomposition
Breaking a character into its components makes it far easier to recall. Each component above links to its own detail page.
Basic info
| Pinyin | hǎo |
| Meanings | good, well |
| Stroke count | 6 strokes |
| Radical | 女 (#38: woman) |
| New HSK exam | Recognise at HSK 1, write by hand at HSK 1-2 |
| Frequency | #77 most common |
Example sentences
Words containing 好
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 好 | hǎo | good, well | HSK 1 |
| 好吃 | hǎochī | delicious | HSK 1 |
| 爱好 | àihào | hobby | HSK 2 |
| 好处 | hǎochù | benefit | HSK 4 |
| 好像 | hǎoxiàng | Be like, seem | HSK 3 |
| 友好 | yǒuhǎo | friendly | HSK 4 |
| 正好 | zhènghǎo | Just right | HSK 4 |
| 只好 | zhǐhǎo | have to | HSK 4 |
| 最好 | zuìhǎo | Best | HSK 3 |
| 好奇 | hàoqí | Be curious | HSK 5 |
| 好客 | hàokè | Hospitable | HSK 6 |
| 良好 | liánghǎo | good | HSK 5 |
| 不好意思 | bùhǎoyìsi | feel embarrassed | HSK 2 |
| 不怀好意 | bùhuáihǎoyì | harbor evil intentions | |
| 分好 | fēnhǎo | to sort out, to divide | |
| 刚好 | gānghǎo | just right, just in time | HSK 5 |
Related characters
Similar meaning (abstract)
On the new HSK 1 exam
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Frequently Asked Questions
Appears in these articles
Reviewed by RJ Murray, Founder, HSK Lord.