呜 meaning and stroke order
The sound of someone crying or sobbing
How to write 呜, 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 呜
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (onom.) for humming or whimpering
How 呜 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 乌 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 呜
呜 is a mouth 口 next to 乌 (wū), the crow. Picture a crow crying "wū wū" from its mouth, and you have the sound of sobbing with the right pronunciation built in.
呜 is an onomatopoeia for crying, whimpering, humming, or a low howling sound like wind or a siren. It usually appears doubled as 呜呜 or in words like 呜咽 (wūyè). Example: 她呜呜地哭了起来。(Tā wūwū de kū le qǐlái.) She started sobbing.
Common mistake: Learners often drop the 口 and write 乌 (wū, crow) alone. They also confuse 呜 with 鸣 (míng, to chirp or ring), which has 口 next to 鸟. Remember that 乌 has no dot inside, while 鸟 does.
Common words with 呜
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
呜 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 呜
How many strokes are in 呜?
呜 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 呜 mean?
呜 (wū) means the sound of someone crying or sobbing. A common word with it is 呜咽 (wūyè), meaning "to sob; to whimper".
How do you pronounce 呜?
呜 is pronounced wū, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 呜?
The radical of 呜 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 呜 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 呜?
The traditional form of 呜 is 嗚. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 呜 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 呜 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 呜 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 呜呼 mean and is it still used?
呜呼 (wūhū) is a literary exclamation meaning "alas". Today it mostly shows up in classical texts or in the set phrase 一命呜呼 (yī mìng wūhū), a humorous or ironic way to say someone died.
Can 呜 describe sounds other than crying?
Yes. It can describe wind howling, a siren or horn, or a train whistle, as in 汽笛呜呜地响 (qìdí wūwū de xiǎng), the whistle hooted. In online chat, 呜呜 is often typed to show sadness or playful whining.