胡 meaning and stroke order
Recklessly, foolishly; wildly
How to write 胡, stroke by stroke
9 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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- 9
Meaning of 胡
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- non-Han people, esp. from central Asia
- reckless
- outrageous
- what?
- why?
- to complete a winning hand at mahjong (also written 和[hu2])
How 胡 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Meat.
⺼ gives the meaning and 古 hints at the sound.
Radical: ⺼ (meat), shared by 176 characters on this site.
How to remember 胡
胡 (hú) puts 古 (gǔ, old) next to ⺼, the meat or body part. Picture an old man's face with a big beard growing out of it, which links to 胡子 (húzi, beard). Then imagine him talking wildly and recklessly through that beard.
As an adverb, 胡 means doing something carelessly or without reason, and it often comes before a verb, as in 胡说 (húshuō, talk nonsense) or 胡闹 (húnào, make trouble). It also appears in nouns like 胡子 (húzi, beard), 胡同 (hútòng, alley) and 胡萝卜 (húluóbo, carrot). Example: 别胡说。(Bié húshuō.) Don't talk nonsense.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 胡 with 湖 (hú, lake), which has the same sound but adds the water radical 氵 on the left. If you mean a lake, as in 西湖 (Xī Hú), you need 氵. Another trap is reading 胡 as gǔ because of 古. The phonetic part is only a hint, and 胡 is always hú.
Common words with 胡
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 胡子 | húzi | beard; mustache or whiskers | HSK 5 |
| 胡同儿 | hútòngr | erhua form of 胡同[hu2 tong4] | HSK 5 |
| 胡说 | húshuō | to talk nonsense; drivel | HSK 7-9 |
| 胡闹 | húnào | to act willfully and make a scene; to make trouble | HSK 7-9 |
| 胡思乱想 | húsī-luànxiǎng | (idiom) to indulge in flights of fancy; to let one's imagination run wild | HSK 7-9 |
| 胡扯 | húchě | to chatter; nonsense | |
| 胡说八道 | húshuōbādào | to talk rubbish | |
| 胡萝卜 | húluóbo | carrot | |
| 胡言乱语 | húyánluànyǔ | babbling nonsense (idiom); crazy and unfounded ravings; double Dutch | |
| 胡椒 | hújiāo | pepper | |
| 刮胡子 | guāhúzi | to shave (facial hair) | |
| 胡须 | húxū | beard | |
| 胡来 | húlái | to act arbitrarily regardless of the rules; to mess with sth | |
| 胡桃 | hútáo | walnut |
胡 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 胡
Learning 胡 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 胡
How many strokes are in 胡?
胡 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 胡 mean?
胡 (hú) means recklessly, foolishly; wildly. A common word with it is 胡子 (húzi), meaning "beard; mustache or whiskers".
How do you pronounce 胡?
胡 is pronounced hú, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 胡?
The radical of 胡 is ⺼, which carries the idea of "meat". Dictionaries list 胡 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 胡?
The traditional form of 胡 is 衚 and 鬍. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 胡 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 胡 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 胡 is part of the HSK 5 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
Why is 胡 in words like 胡萝卜 (carrot)?
One sense of 胡 refers to non-Han peoples, especially from Central Asia. Several foods that came into China from that region carry 胡 in their names, such as 胡萝卜 (húluóbo, carrot) and 胡椒 (hújiāo, pepper).
What does 胡 mean when playing mahjong?
In mahjong, 胡 (hú) means to complete a winning hand. People may say 我胡了 (wǒ hú le), meaning I won. It is also written 和 in this sense, still pronounced hú.