敷 (fū): to spread, to lay out, to apply (powder, ointment etc)
敷 (fū) is a Chinese character meaning “to spread.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 旉 (phonetic) and 攵 (semantic). It ranks #2623 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 敷 tap. Its radical form 攵 (rap) appears in many related characters such as 放 (fàng, to put, to release), 教 (jiào, (bound form) to teach), 收 (shōu, to receive).
Definitions
- to spread
- to lay out
- to apply (powder, ointment etc)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 敷 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 敷衍verb | fū yǎn | to elaborate (on a theme) |
| 入不敷出phrase | rù bù fū chū | income does not cover expenditure |
| 敷衍了事phrase | fū yǎn liǎo shì | (idiom) to do things half-heartedly |
| 冷敷verb | lěng fū | to apply a cold compress |
| 敷料noun | fū liào | medical dressing |
| 热敷verb | rè fū | to apply a hot compress |
| 外敷 | wài fū | to apply externally |
| 敷衍塞责phrase | fū yǎn sè zé | (idiom) to skimp on the job |
| 热敷布 | rè fū bù | hot compress |
| 冷敷布 | lěng fū bù | cold compress |
| 敷设 | fū shè | to lay |
| 敷布verb | fū bù | medical dressing |
| 敷汤药 | fū tāng yào | (coll.) to pay compensation for medical expenses |
| 敷演 | fū yǎn | to elaborate (on a theme) |
| 敷陈 | fū chén | to give an orderly account |
敷 appears in 21 compound words: 57 as the first character, 24 as the last, and 19 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 敷 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
to work halfheartedly; to go through the motions; to perform one's duty in a perfunctory manner
to work halfheartedly; to go through the motions; to perform one's duty in a perfunctory manner
Example Sentences
老师教我们敷字的发音和笔顺。
lǎo shī jiào wǒ men fū zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .
The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "敷."
台风前后蜂类攻击性增强！医生提醒：被蜇伤不能热敷
tái fēng qián hòu fēng lèi gōng jī xìng zēng qiáng ! yī shēng tí xǐng : bèi 蜇 shāng bù néng rè fū
Bees Become More Aggressive Before and After Typhoons! Doctors Warn: Do Not Apply Heat to Stings
笔下风云:轻描淡写 敷衍了事
bǐ xià fēng yún : qīng miáo dàn xiě fū yǎn le shì
The Power of the Pen: A Casual, Half-Hearted Approach
正论:敷衍卸责要不得 连串疏忽铸大祸
zhèng lùn : fū yǎn xiè zé yāo bù dé lián chuàn shū hū zhù dà huò
Editorial: Half-hearted Efforts and Shifting Blame Are Unacceptable; A Series of Oversights Leads to a Major Disaster
换季皮肤状态差?试试hfp果酸精粹水湿敷大法!
huàn jì pí fū zhuàng tài chā ? shì shì h f p guǒ suān jīng cuì shuǐ shī fū dà fǎ !
Is your skin feeling rough during the seasonal change? Try the HFP AHA Essence Water compress method!
非洲猪瘟防线破功原因曝光!厨余蒸煮超敷衍...疫情爆发继续送屠宰场
fēi zhōu zhū wēn fáng xiàn pò gōng yuán yīn pù guāng ! chú yú zhēng zhǔ chāo fū yǎn . . . yì qíng bào fā jì xù sòng tú zǎi chǎng
The reason for the failure of the African swine fever defense line is exposed! Cooking of kitchen waste is super perfunctory... The outbreak continues to be sent to the slaughterhouse
我建议你永远不要入不敷出。
Wǒ jiànyì nǐ yǒngyuǎn bù yào rùbùfūchū.
I advise you never to live beyond your income.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 攵 (tap) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 敷 (fū) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 敷 have?
What is the radical of 敷?
What are the components of 敷?
What are common words containing 敷?
What characters sound the same as 敷 (fū)?
Is 敷 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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