敷 meaning and stroke order
To spread; to lay out; to apply (powder, ointment etc)
How to write 敷, stroke by stroke
15 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 敷
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to spread
- to lay out
- to apply (powder, ointment etc)
- sufficient (to cover)
- enough
How 敷 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Tap.
攵 gives the meaning and 旉 hints at the sound.
Radical: 攵 (to rap), shared by 36 characters on this site.
How to remember 敷
敷 is built from 旉 (fū), which gives the sound, and 攵, a hand tapping or acting. Picture a hand tapping and patting cream so it spreads over the skin.
敷 is used for putting something on a surface, especially medicine, ointment, or a face mask. It also appears in 敷衍 (fūyǎn), which today most often means to do something half-heartedly or to brush someone off. Example: 我每天晚上敷面膜。(Wǒ měitiān wǎnshang fū miànmó.) I put on a face mask every night.
Common mistake: Learners often say 涂 (tú) and 敷 as if they were the same. 涂 is smearing or painting a thin layer, while 敷 suggests laying something on and leaving it there, like a compress or mask. Also keep the first tone in fū, and do not mix it up with 傅 (fù) or 博 (bó), which share a similar right-side look.
Common words with 敷
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 敷衍 | fūyǎn | to elaborate (on a theme); to expound (the classics) |
敷 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 敷
How many strokes are in 敷?
敷 is written with 15 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 敷 mean?
敷 (fū) means to spread; to lay out; to apply (powder, ointment etc). A common word with it is 敷衍 (fūyǎn), meaning "to elaborate (on a theme); to expound (the classics)".
How do you pronounce 敷?
敷 is pronounced fū, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 敷?
The radical of 敷 is 攵, which carries the idea of "to rap". Dictionaries list 敷 under this radical.
Is 敷 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 敷 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 敷衍 usually mean in modern Chinese?
Besides the older sense of expounding a text, 敷衍 now usually means to do something perfunctorily or to fob someone off. For example, 别敷衍我 (bié fūyǎn wǒ) means don't just brush me off.
How do you say to put ice on an injury with 敷?
You can say 冰敷 (bīngfū), to apply ice, or 热敷 (rèfū), to apply heat. For example, 先冰敷一下 (xiān bīngfū yíxià) means first put some ice on it.