羞 meaning and stroke order
Shame, disgrace; shy, ashamed
How to write 羞, stroke by stroke
10 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
- 2
- 3
- 4
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- 9
- 10
Meaning of 羞
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- shy
- ashamed
- shame
- bashful
- variant of 饈|馐[xiu1]
- delicacies
How 羞 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. An ugly 丑 sheep 羊.
Radical: 羊 (sheep), shared by 23 characters on this site.
How to remember 羞
Picture a sheep 羊 that feels ugly 丑 (chǒu) and hides its face. That embarrassed sheep is 羞 (xiū), shy or ashamed.
羞 rarely stands alone in modern speech. It usually appears in words like 害羞 (hàixiū, shy) and 羞愧 (xiūkuì, ashamed). Example: 她很害羞。(Tā hěn hàixiū.) She is very shy.
Common mistake: Learners often write the full 羊 on top. In 羞 the sheep's bottom vertical stroke becomes a sweeping left-falling stroke so that 丑 fits underneath. Also, 羞 is xiū with a first tone, not chǒu like its component 丑.
Common words with 羞
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 害羞 | hàixiū | shy; embarrassed | HSK 7-9 |
| 羞愧 | xiūkuì | ashamed | HSK 7-9 |
| 恼羞成怒 | nǎoxiū-chéngnù | (idiom) to become enraged over a perceived humiliation | HSK 7-9 |
| 羞辱 | xiūrǔ | to humiliate; to shame | |
| 羞耻 | xiūchǐ | (a feeling of) shame | |
| 蒙羞 | méngxiū | to be shamed; to be humiliated | |
| 不知羞耻 | bùzhīxiūchǐ | to have no sense of shame; brazen | |
| 羞涩 | xiūsè | shy; bashful |
羞 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 羞
How many strokes are in 羞?
羞 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 羞 mean?
羞 (xiū) means shame, disgrace; shy, ashamed. A common word with it is 害羞 (hàixiū), meaning "shy; embarrassed".
How do you pronounce 羞?
羞 is pronounced xiū, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 羞?
The radical of 羞 is 羊, which carries the idea of "sheep". Dictionaries list 羞 under this radical.
Is 羞 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 羞 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 害羞 and 羞愧?
害羞 (hàixiū) is shyness or bashfulness, often around strangers or someone you like. 羞愧 (xiūkuì) is the shame you feel after doing something wrong.
Why does 羞 also mean delicacies?
In older texts 羞 was used for 馐 (xiū), fine food. You see this sense in the set phrase 珍馐 (zhēnxiū), rare delicacies, which is now normally written with 馐.