Meaning of 瘦
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- thin
- to lose weight
- (of clothing) tight
- (of meat) lean
- (of land) unproductive
How to use 瘦
瘦 (shòu) describes people or animals being thin, and it also means lean meat, tight clothes, or poor farmland. It can act like a verb meaning to lose weight, often with 了 (le). Example: 你最近瘦了。(Nǐ zuìjìn shòu le.) You have lost weight lately.
瘦 has the sickness radical 疒 on the outside, the frame used for illness words like 病 (bìng). Picture someone who has been sick in bed so long that they have become thin.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes use 瘦 for thin objects like paper or a book, but for flat objects you need 薄 (báo), and for thin lines or threads you use 细 (xì). Also keep the fourth tone, since shǒu with a third tone sounds like 手 (hand).
瘦 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.
瘦 shòu · thin · 14 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 瘦.
| 瘦小 | shòuxiǎo | slightly-built; petite |
| 瘦弱 | shòuruò | thin and weak |
| 消瘦 | xiāoshòu | to waste away; to become thin |
| 骨瘦如柴 | gǔshòurúchái | (idiom) as thin as a match; emaciated |
Questions about 瘦
What does 瘦 mean?
瘦 (shòu) means "thin; to lose weight" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 瘦?
瘦 is made of 1 character: 瘦 (14 strokes). That is 14 strokes in total.
Is 瘦 an HSK word?
Yes. 瘦 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do you say lean meat in Chinese?
Say 瘦肉 (shòuròu). Fatty meat is 肥肉 (féiròu), because 肥 (féi) is the opposite of 瘦 when talking about meat or animals.
Is it polite to tell someone they are 瘦?
In China, saying 你瘦了 (nǐ shòu le) is usually heard as a compliment or a sign of care. Use 瘦弱 (shòuruò) or 消瘦 (xiāoshòu) with caution, though, because those suggest weakness or poor health.