腐 meaning and stroke order
To spoil, to rot, to decay; rotten
How to write 腐, stroke by stroke
14 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 腐
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- decay
- rotten
How 腐 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Meat.
肉 gives the meaning and 付 hints at the sound.
Radical: 肉 (meat), shared by 5 characters on this site.
How to remember 腐
Meat 肉 left sitting under a shed roof 广 starts to rot. The middle part 付 (fù) gives the sound, close to fǔ.
腐 rarely stands alone. It appears in words about physical rot like 腐烂 (fǔlàn) and about moral decay like 腐败 (fǔbài, corruption). Example: 政府要反对腐败。(Zhèngfǔ yào fǎnduì fǔbài.) The government must fight corruption.
Common mistake: In 豆腐 (dòufu, tofu) the 腐 is usually said in the neutral tone, so learners who stress it as dòufǔ sound a bit off. Also, the bottom is 肉 written in full, not the narrow 月 form many meat characters use.
Common words with 腐
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
腐 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 腐
How many strokes are in 腐?
腐 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 腐 mean?
腐 (fǔ) means to spoil, to rot, to decay; rotten. A common word with it is 豆腐 (dòufu), meaning "tofu; bean curd".
How do you pronounce 腐?
腐 is pronounced fǔ, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 腐?
The radical of 腐 is 肉, which carries the idea of "meat". Dictionaries list 腐 under this radical.
Is 腐 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 腐 is part of the HSK 4 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
Why is tofu written with a character meaning rotten?
In 豆腐 the character 腐 describes the soft, curdled texture of the bean curd, not spoiled food. Native speakers do not think of tofu as rotten at all.
What does 腐女 mean in modern slang?
腐女 (fǔnǚ) is internet slang for a woman who enjoys fiction about romance between men, borrowed from Japanese. It is casual and not a word you will see in formal writing.