逗 (dòu): to tease (playfully), to entice, (coll.) to joke, (coll.) funny, amusing
逗 (dòu) is a Chinese character meaning “to tease (playfully).” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 辶 (semantic) and 豆 (phonetic). It ranks #2478 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 逗 walk. Its radical form 辶 (walk) appears in many related characters such as 边 (biān, side), 过 (guò, to pass, past), 还 (hái, still, return).
Definitions
- to tease (playfully)
- to entice
- (coll.) to joke
- (coll.) funny
- amusing
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 逗 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 挑逗 | tiǎo dòu | to provoke |
| 逗留 | dòu liú | to stay for a while |
| 逗乐 | dòu lè | to amuse oneself |
| 逗号 | dòu hào | comma (punct.) |
| 逗人 | dòu rén | amusing |
| 逗笑 | dòu xiào | to amuse |
| 逗趣 | dòu qù | to amuse |
| 挑逗性 | tiǎo dòu xìng | provocative |
| 逗弄 | dòu nòng | to tease |
| 逗哏 | dòu gén | funny man (lead role in comic dialogue 對口相聲|对口相声[dui4 kou3 xiang4 sheng1]) |
| 逗闷子 | dòu mèn zi | (dialect) to joke |
| 逗引 | dòu yǐn | to make fun of |
| 逗人发笑 | dòu rén fā xiào | to make people laugh |
| 逗人喜爱 | dòu rén xǐ ài | cute |
| 逗笑儿 | dòu xiào r | erhua variant of 逗笑[dou4 xiao4] |
逗 appears in 27 compound words: 78 as the first character, 19 as the last, and 4 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 逗 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
逗字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。
dòu zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .
The way the character "逗" is written is quite unique and has left a lasting impression on me.
有宏福苑居民称逗留单位3小时或不足够 有居民接受当局安排
yǒu hóng fú 苑 jū mín chèn dòu liú dān wèi 3 xiǎo shí huò bù zú gòu yǒu jū mín jiē shòu dāng jú ān pái
...主人流感请假一周 狗狗被迫育儿“眼神死”逗笑5.4万网友
. . . zhǔ rén liú gǎn qǐng jiǎ yī zhōu gǒu gǒu bèi pò yù ér yǎn shén sǐ dòu xiào 5 . 4 wàn wǎng yǒu
...Owner Takes a Week Off Due to the Flu; Dog Forced to Babysit, Its "Deadpan" Expression Amuses 54,000 Netizens
疑因游客逗弄嬉笑酿祸 美动物园倭黑猩猩失控撞裂防护...
yí yīn yóu kè dòu nòng xī xiào niàng huò měi dòng wù yuán 倭 hēi xīng xīng shī kòng zhuàng liè fáng hù . . .
A chimpanzee at a U.S. zoo reportedly went on a rampage and smashed through a barrier after being teased and laughed at by visitors...
带女儿返公司逗利市!新同事2日后即辞职 网民斥厚脸皮:...
dài nǚ ér fǎn gōng sī dòu lì shì ! xīn tóng shì 2 rì hòu jí cí zhí wǎng mín chì hòu liǎn pí : . . .
Take your daughter back to the company to make fun of the market! The new colleague resigned after 2 days, and netizens reprimanded him for being cheeky:...
...境处反黑工 拘12名内地及南亚男女 涉违逗留条件等罪
. . . jìng chǔ fǎn hēi gōng jū 1 2 míng nèi dì jí nán yà nán nǚ shè wéi dòu liú tiáo jiàn děng zuì
... 12 mainland and South Asian men and women were detained for violating conditions of stay
你会在这里逗留多久？
Nǐ huì zài zhèlǐ dòuliú duōjiǔ?
How long will you stay here?
他们全都被他的笑话逗笑了。
Tāmen quándōu bèi tā de xiàohuà dòuxiào le.
They all laughed at his jokes.
不要在阳光下逗留太久。
Bù yào zài yángguāng xià dòuliú tài jiǔ.
Don't stay in the sun too long.
我们都被这出喜剧逗乐了。
Wǒmen dōu bèi zhè chū xǐjù dòulè le.
We were all amused with the comedy.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 逗 (dòu) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 逗 and 短?
How many strokes does 逗 have?
What is the radical of 逗?
What are the components of 逗?
What are common words containing 逗?
What characters sound the same as 逗 (dòu)?
Is 逗 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 逗 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.