睹 (dǔ): to observe, to see

睹 (dǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “to observe.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 目 (semantic) and 者 (phonetic). It ranks #2464 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 睹 eye. Its radical form 目 (eye) appears in many related characters such as 看 (kàn, to look, to see), 真 (zhēn, really), 着 (zhe, -ing, to wear).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to observe
  2. to see

Etymology & Origin

睹

pictophoneticeye

Decomposition: ⿰目者 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
目睹verbmù dǔto witness
亲眼目睹phraseqīn yǎn mù dǔto see for oneself
惨不忍睹phrasecǎn bù rěn dǔlit. so horrible that one cannot bear to look (idiom)
熟视无睹phraseshú shì wú dǔ(idiom) to turn a blind eye to (sth one sees regularly)
视若无睹phraseshì ruò wú dǔto turn a blind eye to
有目共睹phraseyǒu mù gòng dǔanyone with eyes can see it (idiom)
先睹为快phrasexiān dǔ wéi kuài(idiom) to consider it a pleasure to be among the first to read (or watch or enjoy)
耳闻目睹phraseěr wén mù dǔto witness personally
二十年目睹之怪现状èr shí nián mù dǔ zhī guài xiàn zhuàngThe Strange State of the World Witnessed Over 20 Years, novel by late Qing novelist Wu Jianren 吳趼人|吴趼人
重睹天日chóng dǔ tiān rìto see the light again (idiom)
有目无睹yǒu mù wú dǔhas eyes but can't see (idiom)
睹物思人phrasedǔ wù sī rén(idiom) to fondly remember a person on seeing sth one associates with them
一睹verbyī dǔto look
13
Total compounds
8
As first character
69
As last character
23
As middle character

睹 appears in 13 compound words: 8 as the first character, 69 as the last, and 23 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 睹 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

目mù
0.53114,021 co-occurrences
眼yǎn
0.5152,024 co-occurrences
惨cǎn
0.445162 co-occurrences
忍rěn
0.443460 co-occurrences
亲qīn
0.375822 co-occurrences
了le
0.3573,162 co-occurrences
若ruò
0.323272 co-occurrences
切qiē
0.312230 co-occurrences
父fù
0.308483 co-occurrences
刮guā
0.30614 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (9)

惨不忍睹cǎnbùrěndǔHSK 7+

to be too horrible to look at

phrase
睹物思人dǔwùsīrénHSK 7+

seeing things left behind by someone or the belongings of the deceased triggers one's memories of that person

phrase
耳闻目睹ěrwénmùdǔHSK 7+

to hear with one's ears and see with one's eyes; to personally see and hear

phrase
亲眼目睹qīnyǎnmùdǔHSK 7+

to see with one's own eyes

phrase
视若无睹shìruòwúdǔHSK 7+

to turn a blind eye

phrase
熟视无睹shúshìwúdǔHSK 7+

to turn a blind eye to; to pay no attention to a familiar sight

phrase
先睹为快xiāndǔwéikuàiHSK 7+

to be the first to witness something and regard such action as a pleasure

phrase
有目共睹yǒumùgòngdǔHSK 7+

to be obvious to all

phrase
重睹天日chóng dǔ tiān rìHSK 7+

to see the light again (idiom); delivered from oppression

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个睹字在古汉语中有不同的含义。

zhè gě dǔ zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .

The character "睹" had different meanings in classical Chinese.

DigitimesApr 2026

5万人争睹AI趋势!AI EXPO Taiwan ...

5 wàn rén zhēng dǔ A I qū shì ! A I E X P O T a i w a n . . .

50,000 People Flock to See the Latest in AI! AI EXPO Taiwan ...

EttodayApr 2026

...齐聚马来西亚 自掏腰包400万两天万人争睹

. . . qí jù mǎ lái xī yà zì tāo yāo bāo 4 0 0 wàn liǎng tiān wàn rén zhēng dǔ

...Gathered in Malaysia: Spending 4 million of their own money, drawing crowds of 10,000 over two days

三立新聞網Mar 2026

警匪追逐险撞店 板娘目睹拔枪吓喊要收惊

jǐng fěi zhuī zhú xiǎn zhuàng diàn bǎn niáng mù dǔ bá qiāng hè hǎn yāo shōu jīng

Police-Criminal Chase Nearly Crashes Into Store; Shop Owner Witnesses Gun Draw, Screams in Terror and Asks for a Ritual to Ward Off Evil Spirits

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

台中色阿公手伸进7岁孙女内裤 媳妇惊睹直言“恶心”下场判3年半

tái zhōng sè ā gōng shǒu shēn jìn 7 suì sūn nǚ nèi kù xí fù jīng dǔ zhí yán è xīn xià chǎng pàn 3 nián bàn

Taichung's lustful grandfather reached into his 7-year-old granddaughter's underwear, and his daughter-in-law was shocked to see that he was "disgusting" and was sentenced to 3 and a half years

東方日報Feb 2026

父亲睹儿子从阳台堕下 伸手成功接住

fù qīn dǔ ér zǐ cóng yáng tái duò xià shēn shǒu chéng gōng jiē zhù

The father saw his son fall from the balcony and reached out to catch it

Tatoeba

我不忍目睹这种残酷的行径。

Wǒ bù rěn mùdǔ zhèzhǒng cánkù de xíngjìng.

I cannot abide to see such cruelty.

Tatoeba

她目睹爱犬在意外中离世,不禁泪如泉涌。

Tā mùdǔ àiquǎn zàiyì wài zhōng líshì, bù jìn lèi rú quányǒng.

She shed plentiful tears when her beloved dog was killed in an accident.

Tatoeba

说起交通事故,我去年目睹了一场。

Shuōqǐ jiāotōng shìgù, wǒ qùnián mùdǔ le yī chǎng.

Speaking of traffic accidents, I saw one last year.

Tatoeba

所目睹的不一定是真的。

Suǒ mùdǔ de bù yīdìng shì zhēn de.

Things that you see with your eyes are not necessarily true.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 目 (eye) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced dǔ

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 睹 (dǔ) mean in Chinese?
睹 (dǔ) primarily means "to observe." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2464 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 睹 and 都?
睹 (dǔ) and 都 (dōu) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 目 vs 阝 (same 者 component).
How many strokes does 睹 have?
睹 is written with 13 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 睹?
The radical associated with 睹 is 目 (eye). This radical appears in many characters related to eye.
What are the components of 睹?
睹 is composed of: 目 (semantic), 者 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰目者 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 睹?
Common words with 睹 include: 目睹 (mù dǔ, "to witness"); 亲眼目睹 (qīn yǎn mù dǔ, "to see for oneself"); 惨不忍睹 (cǎn bù rěn dǔ, "lit. so horrible that one cannot bear to look (idiom)"); 熟视无睹 (shú shì wú dǔ, "(idiom) to turn a blind eye to (sth one sees regularly)"); 视若无睹 (shì ruò wú dǔ, "to turn a blind eye to"). There are over 13 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 睹 (dǔ)?
Several characters share the pronunciation dǔ: 赌 (to bet), 堵 (to block up (a road, pipe etc)). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 睹 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 睹 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 睹 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.