独 (dú): alone, independent, single
独 (dú) is a Chinese character meaning “alone.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 犭 (semantic) and 虫 (phonetic). It ranks #627 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 独 dog. Its radical form 犭 (dog) appears in many related characters such as 狗 (gǒu, dog), 猫 (māo, cat), 状 (zhuàng, (bound form) form).
Definitions
- alone
- independent
- single
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 独 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 独
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 单独adverb | dān dú | alone | 5 |
| 孤独adjective | gū dú | lonely | 6 |
| 独自adverb | dú zì | alone | 5 |
| 独立verb/adjective | dú lì | independent | 5 |
| 独特adjective | dú tè | unique | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 独舞 | dú wǔ | solo dance |
| 独一无二 | dú yī wú èr | (idiom) unique |
| 独处verb | dú chǔ | to live alone |
| 独家adjective | dú jiā | exclusive |
| 独角兽noun | dú jiǎo shòu | unicorn |
| 独裁者noun | dú cái zhě | dictator |
| 独身noun | dú shēn | unmarried |
| 独白noun | dú bái | stage monologue |
| 独裁verb | dú cái | dictatorship |
| 独占 | dú zhàn | variant of 獨占|独占 |
| 独奏verb | dú zòu | solo |
| 独来独往phrase | dú lái dú wǎng | (idiom) to be a loner |
| 唯独adverb | wéi dú | only |
| 独居verb | dú jū | to live alone |
| 独生子noun | dú shēng zǐ | a son who is an only child |
独 appears in 101 compound words: 80 as the first character, 15 as the last, and 5 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 独 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (27)
to exercise sole hegemony (idiom); to dominate a whole area (market, resources etc); to hold as one's personal fiefdom
to decide and act alone (idiom); to take arbitrary action; a law unto oneself
tyrant who has no support and brings disaster to the country and the people
to decide and act alone (idiom); to take arbitrary action; a law unto oneself
to exercise sole hegemony (idiom); to dominate a whole area (market, resources etc); to hold as one's personal fiefdom
tyrant who has no support and brings disaster to the country and the people
Showing 12 of 27 idioms containing 独.
Example Sentences
学习独字需要反复练习，才能写得工整。
xué xí dú zì xū yāo fǎn fù liàn xí , cái néng xiě dé gōng zhěng .
Mastering individual characters requires repeated practice to achieve neat handwriting.
《使命召唤》官方辟谣,否认存在独立的僵尸模式游戏
shǐ mìng zhào huàn guān fāng pì yáo , fǒu rèn cún zài dú lì de jiāng shī mó shì yóu xì
"Call of Duty" officially refuted the rumors, denying the existence of a separate zombie mode game
京都浴屏设计独特 告别传统浴帘缺点
jīng dōu yù bǐng shè jì dú tè gào bié chuán tǒng yù lián quē diǎn
Kyoto's bath screen design is unique, say goodbye to the shortcomings of traditional shower curtains
独/富台指喷3% 周经翔曝台股红盘日走势
dú fù tái zhǐ pēn 3 zhōu jīng xiáng pù tái gǔ hóng pán rì zǒu shì
Unique/rich Taiwan index sprayed 3% Zhou Jingxiang exposed the daily trend of Taiwan stocks in the red market
独家/疑不满出餐太慢! 复古咖啡厅男乱泼美...
dú jiā yí bù mǎn chū cān tài màn ! fù gǔ kā fēi tīng nán luàn pō měi . . .
Exclusive/Suspected that the food is too slow! Retro café men are messy and beautiful...
独家/大年初二邻嫌吵狂砸门找碴 屋主:根本...
dú jiā dà nián chū èr lín xián chǎo kuáng zá mén zhǎo 碴 wū zhǔ : gēn běn . . .
Exclusive/On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the neighbor was suspicious of being noisy and smashing the door to find ballast Homeowner: Fundamentally...
孤独的人会孤独，是因为他畏惧他人。
Gūdú de rén huì gūdú, shì yīnwèi tā wèijù tārén.
Lonely people perpetuate their own loneliness through their fear of others.
我感到凄清与孤独。
Wǒ gǎndào qīqīng yǔ gūdú.
I felt sad and lonely.
我希望你练习了你的长笛独奏！
Wǒ xīwàng nǐ liànxí le nǐ de chángdí dúzòu!
I hope you practiced your flute solo!
我小时候常常独自玩耍。
Wǒ xiǎoshíhou chángcháng dúzì wánshuǎ.
I used to play alone when I was a child.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 犭 (dog) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 独 (dú) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 独 and 强?
How many strokes does 独 have?
What is the radical of 独?
What are the components of 独?
What are common words containing 独?
What characters sound the same as 独 (dú)?
Is 独 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 独 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.