揉 (róu): to knead, to massage, to rub

揉 (róu) is a Chinese character meaning “to knead.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (structural) and 柔 (structural). It ranks #2643 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 揉 a gentle 柔 hand 扌; 柔 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 扌 (hand) appears in many related characters such as 手 (shǒu, hand), 打 (dǎ, hit, make), 找 (zhǎo, to look for).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 扌 hand12 strokesFrequency #2643扌 structural 柔 structural

Definitions

to knead
to massage
to rub

Etymology & Origin

揉

ideographicA gentle 柔 hand 扌; 柔 also provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿰扌柔 (layout: left-right)

Components:扌structural 柔structural

Stroke Order

Practice writing 揉 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
揉搓	róu cuo	to rub
矫揉造作	jiǎo róu zào zuò	pretension
眼里揉不得沙子	yǎn lǐ róu bu dé shā zi	see 眼裡容不得沙子\|眼里容不得沙子[yan3 li3 rong2 bu5 de2 sha1 zi5]
众说纷揉	zhòng shuō fēn róu	lit. diverse opinions confused and divided (idiom)
揉和	róu hé	to knead (clay)
揉合	róu hé	to blend
揉制	róu zhì	to knead (leather)
掰开揉碎	bāi kāi róu suì	lit. to pull apart and knead to a pulp
揉碎	róu suì	to crush
揉磨	róu mo	to torment
搓揉	cuō róu	to knead

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

揉 appears in 11 compound words: 55 as the first character, 18 as the last, and 27 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 揉 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

搓cuō

0.7221,014 co-occurrences

矫jiǎo

0.575300 co-occurrences

捏niē

0.549342 co-occurrences

乳rǔ

0.455516 co-occurrences

烘hōng

0.41766 co-occurrences

焙bèi

0.40736 co-occurrences

胸xiōng

0.407234 co-occurrences

合gě

0.4053,048 co-occurrences

匀yún

0.40154 co-occurrences

炒chǎo

0.38072 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

掰开揉碎bāi kāi róu suìHSK 7+

lit. to pull apart and knead to a pulp; fig. to analyze minutely from every angle; to chew sth over

phrase

矫揉造作jiǎoróuzàozuòHSK 7+

affected; artificial; fakey

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

揉照镜子，整理一下自己的仪容。

róu zhào jìng zǐ , zhěng lǐ yī xià zì jǐ de yí róng .

Adjust your appearance by looking in the mirror.

SmzdmApr 2026

免揉鲜奶吐司配方与制作指南

miǎn róu xiān nǎi tǔ sī pèi fāng yǔ zhì zuò zhǐ nán

UdnnewsindexMar 2026

揉眼睛很危险!23岁女红痒忍不住检查惊见...

róu yǎn jīng hěn wēi xiǎn ! 2 3 suì nǚ hóng yǎng rěn bù zhù jiǎn chá jīng jiàn . . .

Rubbing your eyes is dangerous! A 23-year-old woman couldn't resist the itch—and what she found during her exam was shocking...

LtnMar 2026

当众对女学生揉胸摸私处狼师重判定谳将入监服刑

dāng zhòng duì nǚ xué shēng róu xiōng mō sī chǔ láng shī chóng pàn dìng 谳 jiāng rù jiān fú xíng

Predatory teacher who groped a female student’s chest and private parts in public has been sentenced to prison

Nownews今日新聞Feb 2026

...异能》金度勋疑吃Karina豆腐!被目击揉她手指亲喊冤:我手痒

. . . yì néng jīn dù xūn yí chī K a r i n a dòu fǔ ! bèi mù jī róu tā shǒu zhǐ qīn hǎn yuān : wǒ shǒu yǎng

... "Superpower" Kim Do-hoon is suspected of eating Karina tofu! was witnessed rubbing her fingers and shouting injustice: My hands itch

Tatoeba

爱，就是一个人把另一个人的心揉碎的过程。

ài, jiùshì yīgèrén bǎ lìngyī gèrén de xīn róusuì de guòchéng.

Love is the process of breaking and mending the heart of another.

Tatoeba

手脏的时候千万不要揉眼睛。

Shǒu zāng de shíhou qiānwàn bù yào róu yǎnjing.

Never rub your eyes with dirty hands.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 揉 (róu) mean in Chinese?

揉 (róu) primarily means "to knead." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2643 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 揉 have?

揉 is written with 12 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 揉?

The radical associated with 揉 is 扌 (hand). This radical appears in many characters related to hand.

What are the components of 揉?

揉 is composed of: 扌 (structural), 柔 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰扌柔 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 揉?

Common words with 揉 include: 揉搓 (róu cuo, "to rub"); 矫揉造作 (jiǎo róu zào zuò, "pretension"); 眼里揉不得沙子 (yǎn lǐ róu bu dé shā zi, "see 眼裡容不得沙子|眼里容不得沙子[yan3 li3 rong2 bu5 de2 sha1 zi5]"); 众说纷揉 (zhòng shuō fēn róu, "lit. diverse opinions confused and divided (idiom)"); 揉和 (róu hé, "to knead (clay)"). There are over 11 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 揉 (róu)?

Several characters share the pronunciation róu: 柔 (soft), 肉 (meat). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 揉 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 揉 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

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