膚 meaning and stroke order
Skin; shallow, superficial
How to write 膚, 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 膚
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- skin
How 膚 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Flesh.
⺼ gives the meaning and 虍 hints at the sound.
Radical: ⺼ (meat), shared by 176 characters on this site.
How to remember 膚
The top part 虍 (the tiger head) gives the sound, and the 胃 underneath contains ⺼, the flesh element. Picture a tiger's striped coat stretched over flesh: that outer layer is the skin, 膚 (fū).
膚 is the traditional form, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Mainland China writes 肤. It almost never stands alone and appears in words like 皮膚 (pífū, skin), 膚色 (fūsè, skin color) and 膚淺 (fūqiǎn, superficial). Example: 她的皮膚很好。(Tā de pífū hěn hǎo.) Her skin is very nice.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write the bottom as 月 alone and forget the 田 of 胃, or they confuse 膚 with 慮 (lǜ, to worry), which has the same 虍 top but 思 below. Also keep the tone first-tone fū, not fù.
Common words with 膚
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 膚
How many strokes are in 膚?
膚 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 膚 mean?
膚 (fū) means skin; shallow, superficial. A common word with it is 皮肤 (pífū), meaning "skin".
How do you pronounce 膚?
膚 is pronounced fū, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 膚?
The radical of 膚 is ⺼, which carries the idea of "meat". Dictionaries list 膚 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 膚?
膚 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 肤, used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 皮膚 and 肌膚?
皮膚 (pífū) is the everyday word for skin, used in medicine, skincare and daily talk. 肌膚 (jīfū) sounds more literary or poetic and often appears in beauty ads or writing about the body.
How can 膚 mean superficial?
Skin is the outermost, shallow layer of the body, so 膚淺 (fūqiǎn) describes ideas or understanding that stay on the surface. For example, 他的看法很膚淺 (tā de kànfǎ hěn fūqiǎn) means his views are shallow.