狐 (hú): fox
狐 (hú) is a Chinese character meaning “fox.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 犭 (semantic) and 瓜 (phonetic). It ranks #3076 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 狐 dog. Its radical form 犭 (dog) appears in many related characters such as 狗 (gǒu, dog), 猫 (māo, cat), 猜 (cāi, to guess).
Definitions
- fox
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 狐 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 狐狸noun | hú li | fox |
| 狐狸精noun | hú li jīng | fox-spirit |
| 狐朋狗友phrase | hú péng gǒu yǒu | a pack of rogues (idiom) |
| 九尾狐noun | jiǔ wěi hú | nine-tailed fox (mythological creature) |
| 狐臭noun | hú chòu | body odor |
| 狐狸尾巴 | hú li wěi ba | lit. fox's tail (idiom) |
| 老狐狸 | lǎo hú li | (fig.) old fox |
| 狐假虎威phrase | hú jiǎ hǔ wēi | lit. the fox exploits the tiger's might (idiom) |
| 银狐 | yín hú | silver or black fox (Vulpes alopex argentatus) |
| 火狐noun | huǒ hú | red panda (Ailurus fulgens) |
| 北极狐noun | běi jí hú | arctic fox |
| 与狐谋皮phrase | yǔ hú móu pí | (idiom) to ask sb to act contrary to their own interests (original form of the expression 與虎謀皮|与虎谋皮) |
| 社鼠城狐 | shè shǔ chéng hú | lit. rat in a country shrine, fox on town walls |
| 狐群狗党phrase | hú qún gǒu dǎng | a skulk of foxes, a pack of dogs (idiom) |
| 令狐德棻 | líng hú dé fēn | Linghu Defen (583-666), Tang dynasty historian, compiler of History of Zhou of the Northern dynasties 周書|周书 |
狐 appears in 33 compound words: 42 as the first character, 36 as the last, and 21 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 狐 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
Showing 6 of 8 idioms containing 狐.
Example Sentences
这个狐字在古汉语中有不同的含义。
zhè gè hú zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .
In Classical Chinese, the character for "fox" has different meanings.
流浪猫以及狼、狐狸、臭鼬等食肉哺乳动物或蝙蝠，均属于狂犬病高风险动物。
liú làng māo yǐ jí láng , hú lí , chòu 鼬 děng shí ròu bǔ rǔ dòng wù huò 蝙 蝠 , jūn shǔ yú kuáng quǎn bìng gāo fēng xiǎn dòng wù .
Stray cats, as well as carnivorous mammals such as wolves, foxes, and skunks, and bats, are all considered high-risk animals for rabies.
比如‘你可曾在雪山下救过一只狐狸’虽是热梗跟风，却点燃了普通网友的创作热情。
bǐ rú nǐ kě céng zài xuě shān xià jiù guò yī zhī hú lí suī shì rè 梗 gēn fēng , què diǎn rán le pǔ tōng wǎng yǒu de chuàng zuò rè qíng .
For example, although “Have you ever saved a fox at the foot of a snow-capped mountain?” was just a trend people were jumping on, it sparked the creative enthusiasm of ordinary netizens.
就像风清扬教令狐冲，招式人人会使，哪一剑是活的，哪一剑是死的，得有人看得出来。
jiù xiàng fēng qīng yáng jiào lìng hú chōng , zhāo shì rén rén huì shǐ , nǎ yī jiàn shì huó de , nǎ yī jiàn shì sǐ de , dé yǒu rén kàn dé chū lái .
Just as Feng Qingyang taught Linghu Chong, anyone can perform the moves, but only someone with discernment can tell which sword strike is alive and which is dead.
极狐贝塔 T1 新车官宣：换装贯穿式尾灯，现款定位 A0 级纯电小车
jí hú bèi tǎ T 1 xīn chē guān xuān : huàn zhuāng guàn chuān shì wěi dēng , xiàn kuǎn dìng wèi A 0 jí chún diàn xiǎo chē
Official Announcement of the New Arcfox Beta T1: Features Full-Width Taillights; Current Model Positioned as an A0-Segment Pure-Electric Compact Car
Character Family
Homophones — Characters pronounced hú
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 狐 (hú) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 狐 and 孤?
How many strokes does 狐 have?
What is the radical of 狐?
What are the components of 狐?
What are common words containing 狐?
What characters sound the same as 狐 (hú)?
Is 狐 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 狐 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.