呕 meaning and stroke order
To vomit; to annoy, to enrage
How to write 呕, stroke by stroke
7 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 呕
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- vomit
How 呕 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 区 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 呕
呕 is a pictophonetic character: 口 (mouth) on the left gives the meaning, and 区 (qū) on the right gives the sound. Picture something coming out of the mouth to remember that 呕 (ǒu) means to vomit.
呕 rarely stands alone in speech. It usually appears in words like 呕吐 (ǒutù, to vomit) or 作呕 (zuò'ǒu, to feel nauseous), which can also describe something disgusting. Example: 他吃坏了肚子，一直呕吐。(Tā chī huài le dùzi, yìzhí ǒutù.) He ate something bad and kept vomiting.
Common mistake: Learners often read 呕 as qū because of its phonetic part 区, but the correct reading is ǒu with a third tone. Also do not confuse it with 欧 (ōu, as in 欧洲 Europe) or 殴 (ōu, to beat), which share 区 but have different meanings and tones.
Common words with 呕
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
呕 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 呕
How many strokes are in 呕?
呕 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 呕 mean?
呕 (ǒu) means to vomit; to annoy, to enrage. A common word with it is 呕吐 (ǒutù), meaning "to vomit".
How do you pronounce 呕?
呕 is pronounced ǒu, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 呕?
The radical of 呕 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 呕 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 呕?
The traditional form of 呕 is 嘔. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 呕 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 呕 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 呕 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 呕吐 and 吐?
吐 (tù) is the everyday word for throwing up, as in 我想吐 (wǒ xiǎng tù), I feel like throwing up. 呕吐 (ǒutù) is more formal and is common in medical or written contexts.
Can 作呕 be used for things that are not food?
Yes. 作呕 often describes moral disgust, as in 令人作呕 (lìng rén zuò'ǒu), which means sickening or revolting. It can describe behavior, words, or people.