卓 meaning and stroke order
Profound, lofty, brilliant
How to write 卓, stroke by stroke
8 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 卓
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- outstanding
How 卓 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. To foresee ⺊ the dawn 早 coming; 早 also provides the pronunciation.
Radical: 十 (ten), shared by 23 characters on this site.
How to remember 卓
卓 puts the divination sign ⺊ on top of 早 (zǎo, early or dawn). Picture someone who can foresee the dawn before it comes, a person whose vision stands high above others.
卓 is mostly used in formal written words that praise excellence, such as 卓越 (zhuóyuè, outstanding) and 卓有成效 (zhuó yǒu chéngxiào, highly effective). Example: 他为公司做出了卓越的贡献。(Tā wèi gōngsī zuòchū le zhuóyuè de gòngxiàn.) He made an outstanding contribution to the company.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 卓 with 桌 (zhuō, table), which has 木 (wood) at the bottom instead of the 十 inside 早. Also note that in words like 卓越, standard modern pronunciation is usually zhuó with the second tone, even though some dictionaries list zhuō.
Common words with 卓
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 卓越 | zhuóyuè | outstanding; surpassing | HSK 7-9 |
卓 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 卓
Learning 卓 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 卓
How many strokes are in 卓?
卓 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 卓 mean?
卓 (zhuō) means profound, lofty, brilliant. A common word with it is 卓越 (zhuóyuè), meaning "outstanding; surpassing".
How do you pronounce 卓?
卓 is pronounced zhuō, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 卓?
The radical of 卓 is 十, which carries the idea of "ten". Dictionaries list 卓 under this radical.
Is 卓 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 卓 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 卓 used on its own in everyday speech?
Rarely. It almost always appears inside set words like 卓越 or 卓见 (zhuójiàn, brilliant insight). In casual speech people would say 很厉害 (hěn lìhai) or 很出色 (hěn chūsè) instead.
Is 卓 a common surname?
Yes, 卓 (Zhuó) is a Chinese surname. A well known historical example is 卓文君 (Zhuó Wénjūn), a famous woman poet of the Han dynasty.