How to Write 妙 (miào) — Meaning “Wonderful or clever”

Picture a young woman (女) with just a little (少) something special that makes her wonderful. This visual of "a woman with a little extra" helps recall the meaning of 妙.

First write the left radical 女 with three strokes: slant, left-falling, horizontal. Then write the right part 少: vertical stroke, two dots, and a left-falling stroke. Be careful that 少 is not mistaken for 小 (which has a hook in the vertical stroke). Keep 女 narrow and 少 balanced.

妙 has 少 on the right, meaning "wonderful" (positive). 奴 has 又 on the right, meaning "slave" (negative). 奶 has 乃 on the right, meaning "milk" or "breast." Visually, 少 has two dots and a left-falling stroke, while 又 has a cross shape and 乃 has a curved stroke.

妙 appears in common words like 巧妙 (ingenious), 奇妙 (marvelous), and 美妙 (wonderful). It describes clever ideas, beautiful experiences, or extraordinary things. In speech, you can exclaim "妙啊!" to mean "Brilliant!" when impressed.

Common words containing 妙 include: 巧妙 (qiǎo miào) — ingenious; clever; 奇妙 (qí miào) — wonderful / marvelous; 美妙 (měi miào) — wonderful.