估 (gū): to estimate, used in 估衣

估 (gū) is a Chinese character meaning “to estimate.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (semantic) and 古 (phonetic). It ranks #1318 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 估 person. Its radical form 亻 (person) appears in many related characters such as 人 (rén, person), 什 (shén, what), 今 (jīn, now).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to estimate
  2. used in 估衣

Etymology & Origin

估

pictophoneticperson

Decomposition: ⿰亻古 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 估

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
估计verbgū jìto estimate4
评估verbpíng gūto evaluate6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
低估verbdī gūto underestimate
估价verbgū jiàto value
高估verbgāo gūto overestimate
估算verbgū suànassessment
估量verbgū liangto estimate
预估verbyù gūto estimate
估摸verbgū moto reckon
估测verbgū cèestimate
不可估量bù kě gū liànginestimable
最大似然估计zuì dà sì rán gū jìmaximum-likelihood estimation (statistics)
据估计jù gū jìaccording to estimates
估定verbgū dìngto assess
约略估计yuē lüè gū jìapproximate estimate
重估chóng gūto re-evaluate
度估dù gū(Tw) to doze off (from Taiwanese 盹龜, Tai-lo pr. [tuh-ku])
26
Total compounds
42
As first character
42
As last character
15
As middle character

估 appears in 26 compound words: 42 as the first character, 42 as the last, and 15 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 估 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

计jì
0.60734,904 co-occurrences
评píng
0.57319,195 co-occurrences
算suàn
0.4979,844 co-occurrences
值zhí
0.4536,983 co-occurrences
据jù
0.3944,228 co-occurrences
恒héng
0.37712 co-occurrences
数shǔ
0.3745,544 co-occurrences
低dī
0.3563,736 co-occurrences
粗cū
0.353616 co-occurrences
价jià
0.3431,144 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

据估计,这个项目需要大约三个月才能完成。

Jù gūjì, zhè gè xiàngmù xūyào dàyuē sān gè yuè cáinéng wánchéng.

It is estimated that this project will take about three months to complete.

LtnFeb 2026

「台美貿易協定」政院評估送立院 林沛祥:不送就是妥妥的黑箱

tái měi 貿 yì 協 dìng zhèng yuàn 評 gū sòng lì yuàn lín pèi xiáng bù sòng jiù shì tuǒ tuǒ de hēi xiāng

Executive Yuan Submits "Taiwan-U.S. Trade Agreement" for Legislative Review Lin Pei-hsiang: Failure to Submit Would Be a Clear Case of Backroom Dealing

LtnFeb 2026

網友推估年收破3億 老高小茉不生孩子原因曝光

網 yǒu tuī gū nián shōu pò 億 lǎo gāo xiǎo 茉 bù shēng hái zǐ yuán yīn pù guāng

Netizens estimate annual income exceeds 300 million yuan; reason why Lao Gao and Xiao Mo don't have children revealed

InvestingFeb 2026

...l自InvestingPro于4月标记低估以来飙升71%

. . . zì yú yuè biāo jì dī gū yǐ lái biāo shēng

... .l has soared 71% since InvestingPro marked it undervalued in April

Investing 香港Feb 2026

...l自InvestingPro於4月標記低估以來飆升71%

. . . zì 於 yuè 標 記 dī gū yǐ 來 飆 shēng

... .l has surged 71% since InvestingPro marked undervalue in April

Yahoo FinanceFeb 2026

滙控季息料近3.3元增17% 大行估50億恒生股息入賬補資本

滙 kòng jì xī liào jìn . yuán zēng dà háng gū 億 héng shēng gǔ xī rù 賬 補 資 běn

HSBC's quarterly dividend expected to be nearly $3.3, up 17%, the big banks estimate that 5 billion Hang Seng dividend book to replenish capital

Tatoeba

总理的发言估计激怒了在野党。

Zǒnglǐ de fāyán gūjì jīnù le zàiyědǎng.

The Prime Minister's speech was calculated to anger the opposition parties.

Tatoeba

你估计做那件事需要花费你多少时间呢?

Nǐ gūjì zuò nà jiàn shì xūyào huāfèi nǐ duōshao shíjiān ne?

How much time do you estimate it'll take you to do that?

Tatoeba

您能估计一下数量吗?

Nín néng gūjì yīxià shùliàng ma?

Could you give me a ball-park figure?

Tatoeba

我们估计能在两周内到那个地方。

Wǒmen gūjì néng zài liǎng zhōu nèi dào nàge dìfang.

We calculated that we could reach the place within two weeks.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 亻 (person) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced gū

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 估 (gū) mean in Chinese?
估 (gū) primarily means "to estimate." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #1318 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 估 and 苦?
估 (gū) and 苦 (kǔ) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 亻 vs 艹 (same 古 component).
How many strokes does 估 have?
估 is written with 7 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 估?
The radical associated with 估 is 亻 (person). This radical appears in many characters related to person.
What are the components of 估?
估 is composed of: 亻 (semantic), 古 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰亻古 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 估?
Common words with 估 include: 估计 (gū jì, "to estimate"); 评估 (píng gū, "to evaluate"); 低估 (dī gū, "to underestimate"); 估价 (gū jià, "to value"); 高估 (gāo gū, "to overestimate"). There are over 26 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 估 (gū)?
Several characters share the pronunciation gū: 故 (happening), 固 (hard), 辜 (crime), 咕 ((onom.) for the sound of a bird, an empty stomach etc), and 3 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 估 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 估 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 估 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.