兽 meaning and stroke order
Beast, animal; bestial
How to write 兽, stroke by stroke
11 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
Meaning of 兽
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- beast
- animal
- beastly
- bestial
How 兽 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. An animal with horns 丷, eyes 田, nose 一, and mouth 口.
Radical: 丷 (kwukyel), shared by 8 characters on this site.
How to remember 兽
Picture a beast's face from top to bottom: two horns 丷 on top, big eyes 田 in the middle, a flat nose 一, and a wide mouth 口 at the bottom. Stack them and you get 兽 (shòu), a wild animal staring at you.
兽 rarely stands alone in modern speech. It usually appears in compounds like 野兽 (yěshòu, wild beast), 怪兽 (guàishòu, monster) and 兽医 (shòuyī, vet). Example: 她想当兽医。(Tā xiǎng dāng shòuyī.) She wants to be a vet.
Common mistake: Learners often write 田 as 曰 or forget the 一 between 田 and 口, which makes the face lose its nose. Also watch the tone: it is fourth tone shòu, not shǒu like 手 (hand) or 首 (head).
Common words with 兽
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
兽 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 兽
How many strokes are in 兽?
兽 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 兽 mean?
兽 (shòu) means beast, animal; bestial. A common word with it is 野兽 (yěshòu), meaning "beast; wild animal".
How do you pronounce 兽?
兽 is pronounced shòu, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 兽?
The radical of 兽 is 丷, which carries the idea of "kwukyel". Dictionaries list 兽 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 兽?
The traditional form of 兽 is 獸. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 兽 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 兽 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 兽 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 兽 and 动物?
动物 (dòngwù) is the everyday neutral word for any animal, including pets. 兽 suggests a four-legged, often wild or fierce beast and sounds more formal or literary.
Can 兽 be used to insult a person?
Yes. Calling someone 禽兽 (qínshòu) or saying they have 兽性 (shòuxìng) means they behave in a cruel, inhuman way. 禽兽不如 (qínshòu bùrú), worse than a beast, is a very strong insult.