拂 meaning and stroke order
To shake off, to brush away; dust
How to write 拂, 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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Meaning of 拂
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to flick
- to brush off
- (of a breeze) to brush lightly over
- (literary) to run counter to
- old variant of 弼[bi4]
How 拂 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Hand.
扌 gives the meaning and 弗 hints at the sound.
Radical: 扌 (hand), shared by 342 characters on this site.
How to remember 拂
The hand radical 扌 shows the action, and 弗 (fú) gives the sound. Picture a hand making a quick flick to brush dust away.
拂 (fú) is mostly a written or literary word, often describing a breeze lightly touching something or a hand brushing something off. It appears in set words like 吹拂 (chuīfú) and 拂晓 (fúxiǎo). Example: 春风吹拂着柳树。(Chūnfēng chuīfú zhe liǔshù.) The spring breeze brushes the willow trees.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 拂 with 佛 (fó, Buddha), which shares the 弗 part but uses the person radical 亻 and a different tone. Remember that the hand radical 扌 means an action you do with your hand.
Common words with 拂
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 拂晓 | fúxiǎo | daybreak; approach of dawn | |
| 吹拂 | chuīfú | to brush; to caress (of breeze) |
拂 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 拂
How many strokes are in 拂?
拂 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 拂 mean?
拂 (fú) means to shake off, to brush away; dust. A common word with it is 拂晓 (fúxiǎo), meaning "daybreak; approach of dawn".
How do you pronounce 拂?
拂 is pronounced fú, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 拂?
The radical of 拂 is 扌, which carries the idea of "hand". Dictionaries list 拂 under this radical.
What does 拂晓 mean and when is it used?
拂晓 (fúxiǎo) means daybreak, the moment just before dawn. It is formal and common in writing, news, or military contexts, such as 拂晓出发 (fúxiǎo chūfā), to set out at dawn. In everyday speech people usually say 天刚亮 (tiān gāng liàng).
Does 拂 have another pronunciation?
Yes. It can be read bì as an old variant of 弼 (bì), but this reading is rare and found only in classical texts. In modern Chinese you can almost always read it as fú.