鬚 meaning and stroke order
Beard; must; necessary
How to write 鬚, stroke by stroke
22 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 鬚
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- beard
- mustache
- feeler (of an insect etc)
- tassel
How 鬚 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Hair.
髟 gives the meaning and 須 hints at the sound.
Radical: 髟 (long hair), shared by 21 characters on this site.
How to remember 鬚
鬚 puts the hair radical 髟 on top of 須 (xū), which gives the sound. Picture long hair 髟 growing down over the face to become a beard.
鬚 is the traditional form used in Taiwan and Hong Kong. In mainland simplified Chinese it merges into 须, so 胡鬚 is written 胡须 (húxū). It also covers insect feelers and tassels, as in 觸鬚 (chùxū, antenna). Example: 他留了鬍鬚。(Tā liú le húxū.) He grew a beard.
Common mistake: Learners often write plain 須 when they mean beard in traditional text. In traditional Chinese, 須 means must, as in 必須 (bìxū), and 鬚 means beard. Writing 必鬚 for must is a real error.
Common words with 鬚
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 鬚
How many strokes are in 鬚?
鬚 is written with 22 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 鬚 mean?
鬚 (xū) means beard; must; necessary. A common word with it is 胡须 (húxū), meaning "beard".
How do you pronounce 鬚?
鬚 is pronounced xū, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 鬚?
The radical of 鬚 is 髟, which carries the idea of "long hair". Dictionaries list 鬚 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 鬚?
鬚 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 须, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why does the definition list both beard and must for 鬚?
In simplified Chinese, 鬚 (beard) and 須 (must) were merged into one character, 须. Dictionaries that map between the scripts therefore show both meanings. In traditional writing, 鬚 itself only means beard, whiskers, feelers or tassels.
How do you say mustache versus full beard?
A mustache is usually 小鬍子 (xiǎo húzi) or 八字鬍 (bāzì hú). 鬍鬚 (húxū) can mean facial hair in general. In everyday speech people often just say 鬍子 (húzi).