Meaning of 熟
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- ripe; mature
- thoroughly cooked; done
- familiar; acquainted
- experienced; skilled
- (of sleep etc) deep; profound
- also pr. [shou2]
How to use 熟
熟 describes food that is cooked or fruit that is ripe, and it also describes people or things you know well. It often appears in compounds like 熟悉 (shúxi) and 熟人 (shúrén). Example: 这个人我很熟。(Zhège rén wǒ hěn shú.) I know this person well.
熟 has four dots at the bottom, 灬, a form of fire 火 (huǒ). Picture food sitting over the fire until it is cooked through, and then think of a skill you have practiced so much that it is "well done" and familiar.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 熟 with 熱/热 (rè, hot) because both have the fire dots at the bottom. Remember that 热 is about temperature, while 熟 is about being cooked, ripe, or familiar.
熟 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
熟 shú · ripe · 15 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
Related words
Words that share a character with 熟.
| 成熟 | chéngshú | mature; ripe; to mature; to ripen |
| 熟人 | shúrén | acquaintance; friend |
| 熟练 | shúliàn | practiced; proficient |
| 熟悉 | shúxi | to be familiar with; to know well |
| 耳熟能详 | ěrshú-néngxiáng | what's frequently heard can be repeated in detail (idiom) |
| 眼熟 | yǎnshú | familiar-looking; to seem familiar |
| 面熟 | miànshú | to look familiar; familiar-looking |
| 熟知 | shúzhī | to be well acquainted with |
| 深思熟虑 | shēnsīshúlǜ | mature reflection; after careful deliberations |
| 熟睡 | shúshuì | asleep; sleeping soundly |
| 耳熟 | ěrshú | to sound familiar; familiar-sounding |
| 煮熟 | zhǔshóu | to boil thoroughly; to cook thoroughly |
Questions about 熟
What does 熟 mean?
熟 (shú) means "ripe; mature; thoroughly cooked; done" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 熟?
熟 is made of 1 character: 熟 (15 strokes). That is 15 strokes in total.
Is 熟 an HSK word?
Yes. 熟 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 熟 pronounced shú or shóu?
Both are correct. Shú is the standard reading, but in everyday spoken Mandarin, especially in northern China, many people say shóu when the word stands alone, as in 饭熟了 (fàn shóu le).
What is the opposite of 熟?
The opposite is 生 (shēng). It means raw or unripe for food, and unfamiliar for people or places, as in 生人 (shēngrén, stranger) versus 熟人 (shúrén, acquaintance).