覆 (fù): to cover, to overflow, to overturn
覆 (fù) is a Chinese character meaning “to cover.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 覀 (semantic) and 復 (phonetic). It ranks #1806 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 覆 cover. Its radical form 西 (west) appears in many related characters such as 西 (xī, the West), 要 (yāo, (bound form) to demand).
Definitions
- to cover
- to overflow
- to overturn
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 覆 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 覆
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 颠覆 | diān fù | to topple (i.e. knock over) |
| 重蹈覆辙 | chóng dǎo fù zhé | lit. to follow in the tracks of an overturned cart (idiom) |
| 天翻地覆 | tiān fān dì fù | sky and the earth turning upside down (idiom) |
| 翻天覆地 | fān tiān fù dì | sky and the earth turning upside down (idiom) |
| 翻来覆去 | fān lái fù qù | to toss and turn (sleeplessly) |
| 翻云覆雨 | fān yún fù yǔ | to produce clouds with one turn of the hand and rain with another (idiom) |
| 覆辙 | fù zhé | the tracks of a cart that overturned |
| 全军覆没 | quán jūn fù mò | total defeat of an army (idiom) |
| 覆灭 | fù miè | destruction |
| 覆盖面 | fù gài miàn | coverage |
| 倾覆 | qīng fù | to capsize |
| 覆没 | fù mò | annihilated |
| 覆盖率 | fù gài lǜ | coverage |
| 翻手为云覆手变雨 | fān shǒu wéi yún fù shǒu biàn yǔ | lit. turning his hand palm up he gathers the clouds, turning his hand palm down he turns them to rain |
| 覆水难收 | fù shuǐ nán shōu | spilt water is difficult to retrieve (idiom) |
覆 appears in 40 compound words: 38 as the first character, 20 as the last, and 43 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 覆 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
to be fickle; to shift one's grounds constantly; to play politics; to be tricky
to suffer a crushing defeat; total defeat of an army; complete wipe-out; to fail completely
bringing drastic changes; earthshaking; having everything messed up; chaotic
to carry a boat or to overturn a boat (idiom); fig. The people can support a regime or overturn it.
to be fickle; to shift one's grounds constantly; to play politics; to be tricky
to suffer a crushing defeat; total defeat of an army; complete wipe-out; to fail completely
Example Sentences
这个覆字在古汉语中有不同的含义。
zhè gě fù zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .
The character "覆" carries different meanings in classical Chinese.
韩国瑜为何喊“湿纸覆面”?刘宝杰惊爆:他看到蓝营1悲惨危机
hán guó 瑜 wéi hé hǎn shī zhǐ fù miàn ? liú bǎo jié jīng bào : tā kàn dào lán yíng 1 bēi cǎn wēi jī
Why did Han Guoyu shout "wet paper covering"? Liu Baojie was shocked: He saw the tragic crisis of Blue Camp 1
东吴证券:首次覆盖东方电气给予买入评级,目标价41.9元...
dōng wú zhèng quàn : shǒu cì fù gài dōng fāng diàn qì gěi yú mǎi rù píng jí , mù biāo jià 4 1 . 9 yuán . . .
Soochow Securities: For the first time, Dongfang Electric gave a buy rating, with a target price of 41.9 yuan...
深海鱼视网膜发现新“混血”视觉细胞,颠覆 150 年生物学认知
shēn hǎi yú shì wǎng mó fā xiàn xīn hùn xiě shì jué xì bāo , diān fù 1 5 0 nián shēng wù xué rèn zhī
Deep-sea fish retinas discover new "mixed" visual cells that overturn 150-year-old biological cognition
开源证券:首次覆盖松原安全给予买入评级-FX168
kāi yuán zhèng quàn : shǒu cì fù gài sōng yuán ān quán gěi yú mǎi rù píng jí F X 1 6 8
Open source securities: Covered for the first time to give a buy rating - FX168
RBC Capital首次覆盖Light & Wonder股票,给予...
R B C C a p i t a l shǒu cì fù gài L i g h t W o n d e r gǔ piào , gěi yú . . .
RBC Capital covers Light & Wonder stocks for the first time, giving...
富士山被雪所覆盖。
Fùshì Shān bèi xuě suǒ fùgài.
Mt. Fuji was covered with snow.
听说汤姆不会重蹈覆辙了。
Tīngshuō Tāngmǔ bù huì chóngdǎofùzhé le.
I hear Tom won't do that again.
想不到怎样回覆吗？
Xiǎngbudào zěnyàng huífù ma?
Can't think of an answer?
看那座被雪覆盖的山。
Kàn nà zuò bèi xuě fùgài de shān.
Look at that mountain which is covered with snow.
Character Family
西 Radical Family — Characters sharing the west radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 覆 (fù) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 覆 have?
What is the radical of 覆?
What are the components of 覆?
What are common words containing 覆?
What characters sound the same as 覆 (fù)?
Is 覆 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 覆 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.