Chinese Blessing 爱: Meaning, Strokes & Design Guide
The character 爱 means "love, be fond of, like" and is pronounced ài. Below: its structure, the words it appears in, and how it works as a wallpaper.
Quick facts
| Character | 爱 |
| Pinyin | ài |
| Meaning | love, be fond of, like |
| Strokes | 10 |
| Radical | ⽖ (No. 87) |
| HSK level | newest-1 |
Words that contain 爱
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 可爱 | kě ài | adorable | newest-3 |
| 爱情 | ài qíng | romance; love (romantic) | newest-4 |
| 亲爱 | qīn ài | dear | newest-5 |
| 恋爱 | liàn ài | (romantic) love | newest-5 |
| 热爱 | rè ài | to love ardently | newest-5 |
| 喜爱 | xǐ ài | to like | newest-3 |
Words and levels: HSK vocabulary list · meanings: CC-CEDICT.
Size and layout for 爱
爱 sits in the middle range at 10 strokes: legible on a phone screen, and balanced enough to print at A4. Choose the size by where it will be seen first — phone wallpaper or framed print — and let the other format follow.
Using 爱
爱 is used on its own and inside compounds, so context decides which sense is read. Here it carries “love, be fond of, like”. Regular script (楷书) keeps every stroke countable, which matters when someone checks the character. Avoid mirroring or rotating the character, and avoid very fine or cursive styles at small sizes, where strokes merge into shapes that read as a different character.
Frequently asked questions
What does 爱 mean?
爱 (ài) means “love, be fond of, like”.
How is 爱 pronounced?
爱 is pronounced ài in Mandarin.
How many strokes does 爱 have?
爱 has 10 strokes, under the ⽖ radical (No. 87).
What size should a 爱 wallpaper be?
With 10 strokes, 爱 is dense — print it at A3 or larger, or pair it with more spacing, so the strokes stay clear.
Which style works for 爱?
For a wallpaper, regular script (楷书) stays legible at every size; seal script (篆书) looks classical and works best large; a clean modern layout suits phone and desktop formats.
Is 爱 common in modern Chinese?
Yes — 爱 appears as a standalone HSK vocabulary item (newest-1), and in everyday words such as 可爱、爱情、亲爱.
Should I use simplified or traditional 爱?
爱 is written the same in simplified and traditional Chinese, so there is no form to choose.
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Character data: Unihan (Unicode) · words: HSK vocabulary & CC-CEDICT · How we verify this