Meaning of 胡子
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- beard
- mustache or whiskers
- facial hair
- (coll.) bandit
Measure word: 撮,根
How to use 胡子
胡子 is the everyday word for any facial hair, whether a full beard or a mustache. It is often used with the verbs 留 (liú, to grow) and 刮 (guā, to shave). Example: 我爸爸每天早上刮胡子。(Wǒ bàba měitiān zǎoshang guā húzi.) My dad shaves every morning.
胡 (hú) has 月, which in many characters stands for flesh or the body, so picture hair growing on the flesh of the face. The 子 (zi) at the end is just a noun suffix, like in 桌子 (zhuōzi) and 杯子 (bēizi).
Common mistake: Learners often say "cut" with 剪 (jiǎn) when they mean shaving. Shaving is 刮胡子 (guā húzi), and 剪 is for trimming with scissors. Also keep the second syllable in the neutral tone: húzi, not hú zǐ.
胡子 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.
胡 hú · recklessly · 9 strokes
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子 zi · noun suffix · 3 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 胡子.
Questions about 胡子
What does 胡子 mean?
胡子 (húzi) means "beard; mustache or whiskers" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 胡子?
胡子 is made of 2 characters: 胡 (9 strokes), 子 (3 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.
Is 胡子 an HSK word?
Yes. 胡子 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 胡子 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 胡子 is written 鬍子.
How do I say mustache specifically, as opposed to a beard?
胡子 covers both. To be specific, people say 小胡子 (xiǎo húzi) or 八字胡 (bāzì hú) for a mustache, and 大胡子 (dà húzi) for a big beard. 大胡子 can also be a nickname for a bearded man.
Why does 胡子 also mean bandit?
In colloquial northeastern Chinese, 胡子 was a slang term for bandits or mounted robbers. You may see it in historical stories or older dramas, but in daily speech today it almost always means facial hair.