How to Write 姗 (shān) — Meaning “Graceful; slow”

Imagine a graceful woman (女) walking slowly, and she uses a knife (刂) to 'delete' (删) time, making her arrive late. This connects the character's slow, graceful meaning to its components.

Write the left radical 女 first, keeping it narrow. Then write the right part 删: start with 山 (three strokes: vertical, vertical-horizontal bend, vertical), then add 刂 (two strokes: vertical hook and left-falling). Common mistakes include making the 女 too wide or mixing up the stroke order of 刂.

姗 has the right part 删 (a combination of 山 and 刂), while 奸 has the right part 干 (a simple stem) and means 'evil', and 她 has the right part 也 (also) and means 'she'. Visually, 姗 has more strokes on the right side, making it look busier than the other two.

姗 is mostly used in literary or formal writing. The common idiom 姗姗来迟 describes someone who arrives late but in a slow, graceful way, and it can be used politely to note lateness without being rude. 姗步 is a poetic term for a graceful walk.

Common words containing 姗 include: 姗姗 (shān shān) — Leisurely; gracefully; 姗姗来迟 (shān shān lái chí) — To be late; slow to arrive; 姗步 (shān bù) — Graceful walk.