TraceHanzi

猴 meaning and stroke order

hóu

Monkey

HSK 512 strokesRadical 犭
Strokes12
Pinyinhóu
ToneTone 2
Frequency#1,888
Printable worksheetPractice all HSK 5 characters

How to write 猴, stroke by stroke

12 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
  3. 3
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  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12

Meaning of 猴

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

hóusecond tone (rising)
  1. monkey

How 猴 is built

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

quǎndog+hóumarquis

犭 gives the meaning and 侯 hints at the sound.

Radical: 犭 (dog), shared by 88 characters on this site.

How to remember 猴

The animal side 犭 tells you this is a creature, and 侯 (hóu, marquis) gives the sound. Picture a monkey dressed up as a little marquis, sitting proudly on its throne.

On its own 猴 appears mostly in compounds. In everyday speech people say 猴子 (hóuzi). Example: 山上有很多猴子。(Shān shàng yǒu hěn duō hóuzi.) There are many monkeys on the mountain.

Common mistake: Learners often mix up 猴 with 候 (hòu, to wait) and 侯 (hóu, marquis), which look almost the same. 猴 has the animal side 犭, while 候 has an extra short vertical stroke in the middle and a fourth tone.

Common words with 猴

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

WordPinyinMeaningLevel
猴子hóuzimonkey
狐猴húhóulemur
猴急hóujíimpatient; to be in a rush (to do sth)
杀鸡儆猴shājījǐnghóu(lit.) to kill the chicken to warn the monkey (idiom); (fig.) to punish an individual as a

猴 in example sentences

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

那nà个ge胖pàng女nǚ人rén拿ná着zhe一yī只zhī猴hóu子zi。
The fat woman was holding a monkey.
嗨hāi看kàn呀ya，一yī只zhī三sān个gè头tóu的de猴hóu子zi！
Hey, look, a three-headed monkey!
对duì猴hóu子zi来lái说shuō，爬pá树shù很hěn容róng易yì。
It is easy for a monkey to climb a tree.
山shān上shàng无wú老lǎo虎hǔ，猴hóu子zi称chēng大dà王wáng。
When the cat's away, the mice will play.
山shān中zhōng无wú老lǎo虎hǔ, 猴hóu子zi称chēng大dà王wáng。
When the landlord's away, the tenants will play.

Questions about 猴

How many strokes are in 猴?

猴 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.

What does 猴 mean?

猴 (hóu) means monkey. A common word with it is 猴子 (hóuzi), meaning "monkey".

How do you pronounce 猴?

猴 is pronounced hóu, in the second tone (rising).

What is the radical of 猴?

The radical of 猴 is 犭, which carries the idea of "dog". Dictionaries list 猴 under this radical.

Is 猴 on the HSK exam?

Yes. 猴 is part of the HSK 5 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.

What does 猴急 (hóují) mean?

It describes someone who is impatient or in a big hurry to do something, like a restless monkey. It is informal and a little teasing, for example 别那么猴急 (bié nàme hóují), don't be so impatient.

What does the idiom 杀鸡儆猴 mean?

Literally it means to kill the chicken to warn the monkey. It means punishing one person as an example to scare others into behaving.

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