醋 (cù): vinegar, jealousy (in love rivalry)

醋 (cù) is a Chinese character meaning “vinegar.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 酉 (structural) and 昔 (structural). It ranks #2783 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 醋 aged 昔 wine 酉; wine gone sour. Its radical form 酉 (wine) appears in many related characters such as 配 (pèi, to join), 酸 (suān, sour), 醒 (xǐng, to wake up).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. vinegar
  2. jealousy (in love rivalry)

Etymology & Origin

醋

ideographicAged 昔 wine 酉; wine gone sour

Decomposition: ⿰酉昔 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
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15

Practice writing 醋 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
吃醋verbchī cùto feel jealous (esp. because of a rival in love or affection)
添油加醋phrasetiān yóu jiā cù(lit.) to add oil and vinegar (idiom)
醋意nouncù yìjealousy (in love rivalry)
醋栗nouncù lìgooseberry
醋酸nouncù suānacetic acid (CH3COOH)
油盐酱醋nounyóu yán jiàng cù(lit.) oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar (idiom)
半瓶醋nounbàn píng cùdabbler
米醋mǐ cùrice vinegar
醋海生波cù hǎi shēng bōlit. waves on a sea of vinegar
争风吃醋phrasezhēng fēng chī cùto rival sb for the affection of a man or woman
半瓶子醋nounbàn píng zi cùsee 半瓶醋
争锋吃醋zhēng fēng chī cùvariant of 爭風吃醋|争风吃醋
醋劲儿cù jìn rerhua variant of 醋勁|醋劲
加油添醋jiā yóu tiān cùto add interest (to a story)
白醋nounbái cùwhite vinegar
32
Total compounds
31
As first character
47
As last character
22
As middle character

醋 appears in 32 compound words: 31 as the first character, 47 as the last, and 22 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 醋 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

吃chī
0.5641,336 co-occurrences
酸suān
0.5481,420 co-occurrences
酱jiàng
0.533178 co-occurrences
汁zhī
0.474137 co-occurrences
糖táng
0.472428 co-occurrences
蒜suàn
0.46060 co-occurrences
酿niàng
0.45588 co-occurrences
溜liū
0.44086 co-occurrences
添tiān
0.438224 co-occurrences
蘸zhàn
0.43114 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (6)

加油添醋jiā yóu tiān cùHSK 6+

to add interest (to a story); to sex up

phrase
糖醋里脊táng cù lǐ jǐHSK 7+

sweet and sour pork

phrase
添油加醋tiānyóujiācùHSK 6+

to add color and emphasis to (a narration); to exaggerate

phrase
油盐酱醋yóuyánjiàngcùHSK 6+

oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar; cooking ingredients; daily necessities

noun
争风吃醋zhēngfēngchīcùHSK 6+

to vie jealously for someone's affection; to be green with envy

phrase
争锋吃醋zhēng fēng chī cùHSK 7+

variant of 爭風吃醋|争风吃醋

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

我在字典里查到了醋字的详细解释。

wǒ zài zì diǎn lǐ chá dào le cù zì de xiáng xì xiè shì .

I looked up the detailed explanation of the character "醋" in the dictionary.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

小妙招:可以尝试用香辛料调味,多放葱姜蒜、十三香,也可以放点醋来增加咸味。

xiǎo miào zhāo : kě yǐ cháng shì yòng xiāng xīn liào diào wèi , duō fàng cōng jiāng suàn , shí sān xiāng , yě kě yǐ fàng diǎn cù lái zēng jiā xián wèi .

Quick Tip: Try seasoning with spices—use plenty of scallions, ginger, and garlic, along with "Thirteen Spices"—or add a little vinegar to enhance the savory flavor.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

误吞异物后,切勿采取吞饭团、喝醋、强行下咽等民间偏方。

wù tūn yì wù hòu , qiē wù cǎi qǔ tūn fàn tuán , hē cù , qiáng háng xià yān děng mín jiān piān fāng .

If you accidentally swallow a foreign object, do not try folk remedies such as swallowing a rice ball, drinking vinegar, or forcing it down your throat.

中国新闻网·体育Aug 2026

清炖甲鱼、香酥银鱼、老醋灌肠、榆社剔尖等本土味道,串联起太行小城的舌尖记忆。

qīng dùn jiǎ yú , xiāng sū yín yú , lǎo cù guàn cháng , 榆 shè tī jiān děng běn tǔ wèi dào , chuàn lián qǐ tài háng xiǎo chéng de shé jiān jì yì .

Local delicacies such as clear-broth soft-shelled turtle, crispy silver fish, sausage in aged vinegar, and Yushe “Tiji” connect the culinary memories of this small town in the Taihang Mountains.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

马蜂(碱性毒液):使用食醋或柠檬汁。

mǎ fēng ( 碱 xìng dú yè ) : shǐ yòng shí cù huò 柠 檬 zhī .

Hornets (alkaline venom): Use vinegar or lemon juice.

Hk01.comApr 2026

...司店同期离场 尖沙咀十和田总店:潜心钻研醋饭温度

. . . sī diàn tóng qī lí chǎng jiān shā jǔ shí hé tián zǒng diàn : qián xīn zuān yán cù fàn wēn dù

...Both branches closed at the same time; Towa Main Store in Tsim Sha Tsui: Dedicated to perfecting the temperature of the vinegared rice

Tatoeba

今天晚上吃糖醋排骨。

Jīntiān wǎnshang chī tángcù páigǔ.

I will eat sweet and sour spareribs tonight.

Tatoeba

用拧檬汁代替醋。

Yòng níng méng zhī dàitì cù.

Use lemon juice instead of vinegar.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced cù

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 醋 (cù) mean in Chinese?
醋 (cù) primarily means "vinegar." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #2783 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 醋 have?
醋 is written with 15 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 醋?
The radical associated with 醋 is 酉 (wine). This radical appears in many characters related to wine.
What are the components of 醋?
醋 is composed of: 酉 (structural), 昔 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰酉昔 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 醋?
Common words with 醋 include: 吃醋 (chī cù, "to feel jealous (esp. because of a rival in love or affection)"); 添油加醋 (tiān yóu jiā cù, "(lit.) to add oil and vinegar (idiom)"); 醋意 (cù yì, "jealousy (in love rivalry)"); 醋栗 (cù lì, "gooseberry"); 醋酸 (cù suān, "acetic acid (CH3COOH)"). There are over 32 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 醋 (cù)?
Several characters share the pronunciation cù: 促 ((bound form) of short duration), 粗 ((of sth long) wide), 簇 ((bound form) to cluster). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 醋 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 醋 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 醋 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.