楚 (chǔ): distinct, clear, orderly, pain, suffering, deciduous bush used in Chinese medicine (genus Vitex)
楚 (chǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “distinct.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 林 (structural) and 疋 (structural). It ranks #859 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Definitions
- distinct
- clear
- orderly
- pain
- suffering
- deciduous bush used in Chinese medicine (genus Vitex)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 楚 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 楚
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 一清二楚phrase | yī qīng èr chǔ | to be very clear about sth (idiom) |
| 痛楚adjective | tòng chǔ | pain |
| 衣冠楚楚phrase | yī guān chǔ chǔ | immaculately dressed |
| 苦楚noun | kǔ chǔ | suffering |
| 楚楚adjective | chǔ chǔ | neat |
| 四面楚歌phrase | sì miàn chǔ gē | lit. on all sides, the songs of Chu (idiom) |
| 酸楚adjective | suān chǔ | disconsolate |
| 不清楚 | bù qīng chu | unclear |
| 楚国proper-noun | chǔ guó | the state of Chu, one of the most important of the small states contending for power in China between 770 and 223 BC,... |
| 头脑清楚 | tóu nǎo qīng chu | lucid |
| 尼布楚条约proper-noun | ní bù chǔ tiáo yuē | Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689) between Qing China and Russia |
| 中俄尼布楚条约 | zhōng é ní bù chǔ tiáo yuē | Treaty of Nerchinsk (1698) between Qing China and Russia |
| 年楚河proper-noun | nián chǔ hé | Nyang qu or Nian chu River in Tibet, a tributary of Yarlung Tsangpo |
| 楚汉相争 | chǔ hàn xiāng zhēng | see 楚漢戰爭|楚汉战争 |
| 楚汉战争 | chǔ hàn zhàn zhēng | Chu-Han Contention (206-202 BC), power struggle between Liu Bang 劉邦|刘邦 of Han and Xiang Yu 項羽|项羽[Xiang4 Y... |
楚 appears in 43 compound words: 30 as the first character, 44 as the last, and 26 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 楚 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
the boundary between the spheres of influence of two parties at war; the separation line between two sides
lit. head in Wu and tail in Chu (idiom); fig. close together; head-to-tail; one thing starts where the other leaves off
Showing 8 of 9 idioms containing 楚.
Example Sentences
他说得很清楚，大家都听明白了他的意思。
Tā shuō de hěn qīngchu, dàjiā dōu tīng míngbai le tā de yìsi.
He spoke very clearly, and everyone understood what he meant.
豆浆能解酒吗?一文说清楚
dòu jiāng néng jiě jiǔ ma ? yī wén shuō qīng chǔ
Can Soy Milk Help Sober You Up? Everything You Need to Know
刘部长别再神隐 向国人说清楚
liú bù cháng bié zài shén yǐn xiàng guó rén shuō qīng chǔ
Minister Liu should no longer hide his mind and make it clear to the Chinese people
中国乒乓球队确认澳门世界杯参赛名单 王楚钦、孙颖莎领衔
zhōng guó pīng pāng qiú duì què rèn ào mén shì jiè bēi cān sài míng dān wáng chǔ qīn , sūn yǐng 莎 lǐng xián
The Chinese table tennis team confirmed the list for the Macau World Cup, led by Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha
王楚钦等国乒球手晋级世界乒乓球职业大联盟新加...
wáng chǔ qīn děng guó pīng qiú shǒu jìn jí shì jiè pīng pāng qiú zhí yè dà lián méng xīn jiā . . .
Wang Chuqin and other national table tennis players advanced to the World Table Tennis Professional League to add a new addition...
...約130場會議講座料吸引逾3000業界翹楚
. . . 約 場 會 議 講 zuò liào xī yǐn yú 業 jiè 翹 chǔ
... Over 3,000 industry leaders are expected to be attracted to the 130 sessions of the conference.
能再说一次吗？我没听清楚你的名字。
Néng zàishuō yīcì ma? wǒ méi tīngqīng chǔ nǐ de míngzi.
I beg your pardon; I didn't quite catch your name.
我不清楚这里发生了什么事？
Wǒ bù qīngchu zhèlǐ fāshēng le shénmeshì?
I have no idea of what's going on in there.
猫在夜里看得更清楚。
Māo zài yèli kàn de gèng qīngchu.
Cats see better at night.
你对我的个性还不太清楚。
Nǐ duì wǒ de gèxìng hái bù tài qīngchu.
There are a lot of things you don't know about my personality.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 楚 (chǔ)?
Is 楚 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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