堕 (duò): to fall, to sink, (fig.) to degenerate
堕 (duò) is a Chinese character meaning “to fall.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 陏 (phonetic) and 土 (semantic). It ranks #2537 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 堕 earth. Its radical form 土 (earth) appears in many related characters such as 在 (zài, to exist), 地 (dì, earth, ground), 场 (chǎng, field, place).
Definitions
- to fall
- to sink
- (fig.) to degenerate
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 堕 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 堕落 | duò luò | to degrade |
| 堕胎 | duò tāi | to induce an abortion |
| 如堕五里雾中 | rú duò wǔ lǐ wù zhōng | as if lost in a thick fog (idiom) |
| 自甘堕落 | zì gān duò luò | to abandon oneself (idiom) |
| 堕云雾中 | duò yún wù zhōng | lit. to become lost in a fog (idiom) |
| 如堕烟雾 | rú duò yān wù | as if degenerating into smoke (idiom) |
| 呱呱堕地 | gū gū duò dì | see 呱呱墜地|呱呱坠地[gu1 gu1 zhui4 di4] |
| 堕楼 | duò lóu | to jump to one's death |
堕 appears in 8 compound words: 50 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 50 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 堕 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
堕豆是东北地区的主要农作物之一。
duò dòu shì dōng běi dì ōu de zhǔ yāo nóng zuò wù zhī yī .
Soybeans are one of the primary crops in the Northeast region.
珍惜生命|秀茂坪顺利邨45岁妇堕楼 昏迷送院抢救不治
zhēn xī shēng mìng xiù mào píng shùn lì 邨 4 5 suì fù duò lóu hūn mí sòng yuàn qiǎng jiù bù zhì
Cherish Life|A 45-year-old woman fell from a building in Shunli Estate of Sau Mau Ping and was sent to the hospital in a coma for rescue
秀茂坪顺利邨妇人堕楼亡 原因待查
xiù mào píng shùn lì 邨 fù rén duò lóu wáng yuán yīn dài chá
The cause of the death of a woman in Shunli Village, Sau Mau Ping, who fell from a building is to be investigated
水牢性侵强迫堕胎样样来 联合国痛批东南亚诈骗园区惨绝人...
shuǐ láo xìng qīn qiáng pò duò tāi yàng yàng lái lián gě guó tòng pī dōng nán yà zhà piàn yuán qū cǎn jué rén . . .
The United Nations criticizes the Southeast Asian fraud park as horrific...
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
你支持还是反对堕胎？
Nǐ zhīchí háishi fǎnduì duòtāi?
Are you for or against abortion?
你不要自甘堕落。
Nǐ bù yào zìgānduòluò.
You don't have to kick yourself.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 堕 (duò) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 堕 and 起?
How many strokes does 堕 have?
What is the radical of 堕?
What are the components of 堕?
What are common words containing 堕?
What characters sound the same as 堕 (duò)?
Is 堕 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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