惧 meaning and stroke order

jù

To fear, to dread

Strokes11
Pinyinjù
ToneTone 4
Frequency#1,447

How to write 惧, 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. 1
  2. 2
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Meaning of 惧

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

jùfourth tone (falling)
  1. to fear

How 惧 is built

Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Heart.

忄 gives the meaning and 具 hints at the sound.

Radical: 忄 (heart), shared by 167 characters on this site.

How to remember 惧

惧 is a heart 忄 next to 具 (jù), which gives the sound. Picture your heart shrinking back from a tool 具 it fears, and you have 'to fear'.

惧 rarely stands alone in speech. It appears in words like 恐惧 (kǒngjù), 畏惧 (wèijù) and 惧怕 (jùpà), and in written set phrases. Example: 他对黑暗有一种恐惧。(Tā duì hēi'àn yǒu yì zhǒng kǒngjù.) He has a fear of the dark.

Common mistake: Learners sometimes write the right side as 且 or 县 and forget the two dots and the long horizontal stroke at the bottom of 具. Also keep the fourth tone: jù, not jǔ.

Common words with 惧

Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.

WordPinyinMeaningLevel
恐惧kǒngjùfear; dread; to fear; to dreadHSK 7-9
畏惧wèijùto fear; to dreadHSK 7-9
惧怕jùpàto be afraid
恐惧症kǒngjùzhèngphobia

惧 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

你nǐ知zhī道dào恐kǒng惧jù的de价jià值zhí吗ma?
Do you know the value of fear?
恐kǒng惧jù永yǒng远yuǎn都dōu是shì由yóu无wú知zhī所suǒ造zào成chéng的de。
Fear always springs from ignorance.
伊yī斯sī兰lán恐kǒng惧jù症zhèng是shì什shén么me?
What is Islamophobia?
我wǒ不bù想xiǎng在zài恐kǒng惧jù中zhōng生shēng活huó。
I don't want to live my life in fear.
汤tāng姆mǔ承chéng认rèn了le他tā的de恐kǒng惧jù。
Tom admitted his fear.

Questions about 惧

How many strokes are in 惧?

惧 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 惧 mean?

惧 (jù) means to fear, to dread. A common word with it is 恐惧 (kǒngjù), meaning "fear; dread; to fear; to dread".

How do you pronounce 惧?

惧 is pronounced jù, in the fourth tone (falling).

What is the radical of 惧?

The radical of 惧 is 忄, which carries the idea of "heart". Dictionaries list 惧 under this radical.

What is the traditional form of 惧?

The traditional form of 惧 is 懼. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 惧 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.

Is 惧 on the HSK exam?

Yes. 惧 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 怕 and 惧?

怕 (pà) is the everyday word for 'to be afraid', as in 我怕狗 (wǒ pà gǒu). 惧 is more formal and literary, and it usually appears inside compounds such as 惧怕 or 恐惧.

How do you say 'fearless' using 惧?

Use 无所畏惧 (wú suǒ wèijù), meaning 'to fear nothing'. In shorter form you will also see 不惧 (bú jù), as in 不惧困难 (bú jù kùnnan), 'not afraid of difficulties'.

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