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老 — old; venerable; experienced

old; venerable; experienced; of long standing; always

Pinyin
lǎo
Strokes
6
HSK level
HSK 1
Handwriting
recognition only

How to write 老: 6 strokes

Each cell adds one stroke to the previous ones, with the new stroke in red. Stroke order is not decoration: it sets the proportions of the character and makes handwriting legible to a reader. The syllabus asks you to recognise this character rather than write it by hand.

老 — 6 strokes, in writing order from left to right.

Build a printable practice sheet with 老

Words with 老 in the HSK syllabus: 25

Every word in the official 2026 syllabus that contains this character, with the level it is introduced at. Learning a character pays off through these: each one combines with the characters you already know.

  1. 老师lǎoshīteacherHSK 1
  2. 老lǎoprefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarityHSK 3
  3. 老人lǎorénold man or woman; the elderlyHSK 3
  4. 老虎lǎohǔtigerHSK 4
  5. 老家lǎojiānative place; place of origin; home state or regionHSK 4
  6. 老年lǎoniánelderly; old age; autumn of one's yearsHSK 4
  7. 老是lǎoshìalwaysHSK 4
  8. 古老gǔlǎoancient; old; age-oldHSK 5
  9. 老百姓lǎobǎixìngordinary people; the "person in the street"HSK 5
  10. 老板lǎobǎnRobamHSK 5
  11. 老公lǎogōnghusbandHSK 5
  12. 老婆lǎopowifeHSK 5
  13. 老实lǎoshihonest; sincere; well-behaved; naive; gullibleHSK 6
  14. 老鼠lǎoshǔrat; mouseHSK 6
  15. 老太太lǎotàitaielderly lady; esteemed motherHSK 6
  16. 衰老shuāilǎoto age; to deteriorate with age; old and weakHSK 6
  17. 养老yǎnglǎoto provide for the elderlyHSK 6
  18. 养老院yǎnglǎoyuànnursing homeHSK 6
  19. 老伴儿lǎobànr—HSK 7–9
  20. 老大lǎodàold age; very; eldest child in a familyHSK 7–9
  21. 老化lǎohuàto age; to become outdatedHSK 7–9
  22. 老人家lǎorenjiapolite term for old woman or manHSK 7–9
  23. 老乡lǎoxiāngfellow townsman; fellow villager; sb from the same hometownHSK 7–9
  24. 老字号lǎozìhaoshop, firm, or brand of merchandise with a long-established reputationHSK 7–9
  25. 元老yuánlǎosenior figure; doyen; founding member; veteranHSK 7–9

Glosses come from CC-CEDICT, used under CC BY-SA 4.0, and are the dictionary’s first sense rather than a translation chosen for context.