陋 meaning and stroke order
Coarse, crude; narrow; ugly
How to write 陋, stroke by stroke
8 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
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Meaning of 陋
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- low
- humble
- plain
- ugly
- mean
- vulgar
How 陋 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Village.
阝 gives the meaning.
Radical: 阝 (place), shared by 160 characters on this site.
How to remember 陋
On the left is 阝, here meaning village. On the right, 丙 is tucked inside the corner stroke 乚, like a cramped hut squeezed into a narrow lane of a poor village, which is crude, narrow and plain.
陋 (lòu) rarely stands alone in modern speech. It appears in words like 丑陋 (chǒulòu, ugly), 简陋 (jiǎnlòu, crude, basic) and 孤陋寡闻 (gūlòu-guǎwén, ill-informed). Example: 房间很简陋。(Fángjiān hěn jiǎnlòu.) The room is very basic.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 陋 (lòu) with 漏 (lòu, to leak), since they sound the same. 漏 has the water radical 氵 and is about leaking, while 陋 has 阝 and describes something crude or humble.
Common words with 陋
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
陋 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 陋
How many strokes are in 陋?
陋 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 陋 mean?
陋 (lòu) means coarse, crude; narrow; ugly. A common word with it is 丑陋 (chǒulòu), meaning "ugly".
How do you pronounce 陋?
陋 is pronounced lòu, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 陋?
The radical of 陋 is 阝, which carries the idea of "place". Dictionaries list 陋 under this radical.
Is 陋 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 陋 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 丑陋 stronger than 难看?
Yes. 难看 (nánkàn) is the everyday word for unattractive. 丑陋 (chǒulòu) is more formal and harsh, and it is often used for morally ugly things, such as 丑陋的行为 (ugly behavior).
Can 陋 be used to sound humble about my own things?
Yes, in polite or literary style. For example, 陋室 (lòushì) means a humble room, and people may call their own home this way out of modesty.