窮 meaning and stroke order
Poor, destitute; to exhaust
How to write 窮, 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 窮
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- poor
- destitute
- to use up
- to exhaust
- thoroughly
- extremely
How 窮 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Cave.
穴 gives the meaning and 躬 hints at the sound.
Radical: 穴 (cave), shared by 46 characters on this site.
How to remember 窮
窮 is 穴 (cave) on top of 躬 (gōng, the body bending). Picture someone bent over, squeezed into a cave with nowhere left to go: they are poor and have run out of everything. 躬 also hints at the sound.
窮 is the traditional form. Mainland simplified writing uses 穷, and that is the form you see in the common words listed here. It means poor, but it also means used up or at the end, as in 无穷 (wúqióng, endless). Example: 他小时候家里很穷。(Tā xiǎoshíhou jiā li hěn qióng.) His family was very poor when he was a child.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 窮 with 窈 or 究 because they share the 穴 top. The bottom of 窮 is the full 躬 (身 plus 弓). Also, 穷 is second tone (qióng), not third tone.
Common words with 窮
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 窮人 | qióngrén | poor people; the poor | HSK 4 |
| 貧窮 | pínqióng | poor; impoverished | HSK 7-9 |
| 無窮 | wúqióng | endless; boundless | HSK 7-9 |
| 層出不窮 | céngchū-bùqióng | more and more emerge; innumerable succession | HSK 7-9 |
| 窮光蛋 | qióngguāngdàn | poor wretch; pauper | |
| 窮鬼 | qióngguǐ | (vulgar) impoverished person; the poor | |
| 無窮無盡 | wúqióngwújìn | (idiom) endless; boundless; infinite | |
| 窮追不捨 | qióngzhuībùshě | to pursue relentlessly |
Questions about 窮
How many strokes are in 窮?
窮 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 窮 mean?
窮 (qióng) means poor, destitute; to exhaust. A common word with it is 穷人 (qióngrén), meaning "poor people; the poor".
How do you pronounce 窮?
窮 is pronounced qióng, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 窮?
The radical of 窮 is 穴, which carries the idea of "cave". Dictionaries list 窮 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 窮?
窮 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 穷, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is it rude to call someone 穷?
Saying someone is 穷 directly can sound blunt. Words like 穷鬼 and 穷光蛋 are insulting or joking, so use them only with close friends. 贫穷 (pínqióng) sounds more neutral and formal.
Why does 无穷 mean endless if 穷 means poor?
The older core meaning of 穷 is to reach the end or exhaust something. Poverty means your money has run out. So 无穷 means having no end, and 穷追不舍 means chasing all the way to the end.