愚 meaning and stroke order
Stupid, foolish
How to write 愚, stroke by stroke
13 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 愚
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to be stupid
- to cheat or deceive
- me or I (modest)
How 愚 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Heart.
心 gives the meaning and 禺 hints at the sound.
Radical: 心 (heart), shared by 97 characters on this site.
How to remember 愚
愚 (yú) is a heart 心 (xīn) on the bottom with 禺 (yú) on top giving the sound. Picture a heart, which in Chinese thinking was where the mind lives, weighed down by a heavy shape on top so it cannot think clearly.
愚 rarely stands alone in modern speech. It appears in words like 愚蠢 (yúchǔn, stupid) and 愚弄 (yúnòng, to fool someone), and in the famous idiom 愚公移山. Example: 别愚弄我。(Bié yúnòng wǒ.) Don't make a fool of me.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write 遇 (yù, to meet) or 偶 (ǒu) instead, since they share the 禺 part. Remember that 愚 has 心 underneath because foolishness is about the mind, and its tone is second tone yú, not fourth like 遇.
Common words with 愚
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
愚 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 愚
How many strokes are in 愚?
愚 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 愚 mean?
愚 (yú) means stupid, foolish. A common word with it is 愚蠢 (yúchǔn), meaning "silly; stupid".
How do you pronounce 愚?
愚 is pronounced yú, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 愚?
The radical of 愚 is 心, which carries the idea of "heart". Dictionaries list 愚 under this radical.
Is 愚 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 愚 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 愚人节 mean?
愚人节 (Yúrén Jié) is April Fools' Day. It literally means fools' festival, using 愚人 (yúrén, foolish person).
Why is 愚 sometimes used to mean I or me?
In older or very formal writing, a speaker could humbly call himself 愚, as in 愚见 (yújiàn, my humble opinion). It is a polite way of lowering oneself and is rare in everyday speech today.