Chinese Tattoo 雷: Meaning, Strokes & Design Guide
The character 雷 means "thunder" and is pronounced léi. Below: its structure, the words it appears in, and how it works as a tattoo.
Quick facts
| Character | 雷 |
| Pinyin | léi |
| Meaning | thunder |
| Strokes | 13 |
| Radical | ⾬ (No. 173) |
| HSK level | newest-6 |
Words that contain 雷
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 雷达 | léi dá | radar (loanword) | newest-7 |
| 雷同 | léi tóng | mirroring others | newest-7 |
| 打雷 | dǎ léi | to rumble with thunder | newest-6 |
| 布雷 | bu4 lei2 | to lay mines | — |
| 地雷 | di4 lei2 | land mine (CL:顆|颗[ke1]) | — |
| 大雷 | da4 lei2 | (slang) large breasts | — |
Words and levels: HSK vocabulary list · meanings: CC-CEDICT.
Characters sharing the ⾬ radical
All of these share the ⾬ radical, so they are visually related — useful when you compare designs.
Placing 雷
雷 runs to 13 strokes, which is dense for a single character. At small sizes the inner strokes close up and the character stops being readable — this one wants a larger placement (upper back, thigh, forearm) rather than a wrist or ankle. Tell your artist the intended size before the stencil is cut, because a design that reads at 8 cm can collapse at 4 cm. Bring the stencil together with the pinyin and the meaning, and ask the artist to follow the stencil rather than redrawing the character freehand — freehand redrawing is the most common way a correct character loses a stroke and becomes a different one.
Design notes for 雷
雷 appears both on its own and inside compounds, so the sense depends on context; here it reads “thunder”. Regular script (楷书) keeps every stroke countable, which matters when a Chinese reader checks it. Avoid mirroring or rotating the character, and avoid very fine or cursive styles at small sizes, where strokes merge into a shape that reads as a different character.
Frequently asked questions
What does 雷 mean?
雷 (léi) means “thunder”.
How is 雷 pronounced?
雷 is pronounced léi in Mandarin.
How many strokes does 雷 have?
雷 has 13 strokes, under the ⾬ radical (No. 173).
How large should a 雷 tattoo be?
With 13 strokes, 雷 is moderately dense — it stays legible from roughly 4–5 cm upward. Shrinking it below that risks the strokes merging.
Which style works for 雷?
Bold regular script (楷书) keeps the strokes clear. Semi-cursive (行书) adds flow but softens edges. Seal script looks classical but is harder for most readers to verify — use it only if a native reader has confirmed the rendering.
Is 雷 common in modern Chinese?
Yes — 雷 appears as a standalone HSK vocabulary item (newest-6), and in everyday words such as 雷达、雷同、打雷.
Should I use simplified or traditional 雷?
雷 is written the same in simplified and traditional Chinese, so there is no form to choose.
Want 雷 as a ready-to-use stencil with a native-checked meaning card, sized for your tattoo artist?
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Character data: Unihan (Unicode) · words: HSK vocabulary & CC-CEDICT · How we verify this