屈 meaning and stroke order
To bend, to flex; bent, crooked, crouched
How to write 屈, 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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- 8
Meaning of 屈
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- bent
- to feel wronged
How 屈 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Corpse.
尸 gives the meaning and 出 hints at the sound.
Radical: 尸 (body), shared by 40 characters on this site.
How to remember 屈
屈 is pictophonetic: 尸 (a body, hint: corpse) gives the meaning and 出 (chū) gives the sound. Picture a body 尸 curled over as it tries to squeeze out 出 through a low door, so it has to bend.
屈 means to bend, and by extension to give in or to be treated unfairly. It mostly appears in words like 屈服 (qūfú, to surrender) and 委屈 (wěiqu, wronged). Example: 他觉得很委屈。(Tā juéde hěn wěiqu.) He feels he has been treated unfairly.
Common mistake: In 委屈 the second syllable is usually said in the neutral tone, wěiqu, not wěiqū. Learners also confuse 屈 with 届 (jiè, session), which has 由 under 尸 instead of 出.
Common words with 屈
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 屈服 | qūfú | to surrender; to succumb | HSK 7-9 |
| 委屈 | wěiqu | wronged; aggrieved; to inconvenience; to put (sb) at a disadvantage; to do sb wrong | HSK 7-9 |
| 屈辱 | qūrǔ | to humiliate; humiliating | |
| 卑躬屈膝 | bēigōngqūxī | to bow and bend the knee (idiom); fawning; bending and scraping to curry favor | |
| 屈从 | qūcóng | to submit; to yield; to bow to sb's will | |
| 首屈一指 | shǒuqūyīzhǐ | to count as number one (idiom); second to none; outstanding |
屈 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 屈
Learning 屈 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 屈
How many strokes are in 屈?
屈 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 屈 mean?
屈 (qū) means to bend, to flex; bent, crooked, crouched. A common word with it is 屈服 (qūfú), meaning "to surrender; to succumb".
How do you pronounce 屈?
屈 is pronounced qū, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 屈?
The radical of 屈 is 尸, which carries the idea of "body". Dictionaries list 屈 under this radical.
Is 屈 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 屈 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 首屈一指 literally mean?
It means "the first finger to be bent." When counting on your fingers, the first one you bend is number one, so the idiom means the very best or second to none.
Is 屈服 negative?
Usually yes. 屈服 means to give in under pressure, as in 决不屈服 (jué bù qūfú, never surrender). It suggests weakness, unlike neutral words such as 同意 (tóngyì, to agree).