淑 (shū): (bound form) (of women) gentle, kind, lovely, admirable, (used in given names)

淑 (shū) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) (of women) gentle.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 叔 (phonetic). It ranks #2665 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 淑 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 河 (hé, river), 海 (hǎi, sea), 洋 (yáng, ocean).

Spoken pronunciation

Radical: 氵 water11 strokesFrequency #2665氵 semantic 叔 phonetic

Definitions

(bound form) (of women) gentle
kind
lovely
admirable
(used in given names)

Etymology & Origin

淑

pictophoneticwater

Decomposition: ⿰氵叔 (layout: left-right)

Components:氵semantic 叔phonetic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 淑 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
淑女	shū nǚ	wise and virtuous woman
贤淑adjective	xián shū	(of a woman) virtuous
淑静	shū jìng	gentle
遇人不淑phrase	yù rén bù shū	(idiom) to be in a relationship with or marry a bad person
淑人君子	shū rén jūn zi	virtuous gentleman (idiom)
淑女车	shū nǚ chē	ladies bicycle
淑世	shū shì	to make the world a better place
周梁淑怡	zhōu liáng shū yí	Selina Chow (Chow Liang Shuk-yee) (1945-), Hong Kong politician
娴淑	xián shū	ladylike

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

淑 appears in 9 compound words: 56 as the first character, 33 as the last, and 11 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 淑 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

佩pèi

0.73630 co-occurrences

罗luó

0.51524 co-occurrences

返fǎn

0.43011 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

淑人君子shū rén jūn zi

virtuous gentleman (idiom)

phrase

遇人不淑yùrénbùshū

to be in a relationship with or marry a bad person; to associate with a bad person

phrase

Example Sentences

爱范儿Aug 2026

剧集围绕 70 多岁的郑淑子展开。

jù jí wéi rào 7 0 duō suì de zhèng shū zǐ zhǎn kāi .

The series centers on Zheng Shuzhi, who is in her 70s.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

张淑恬摄年轻人为什么愿意走进来、留下来、反复来？

zhāng shū 恬 shè nián qīng rén wéi shén me yuàn yì zǒu jìn lái , liú xià lái , fǎn fù lái ?

Photo by Zhang Shutian: Why are young people willing to come here, stay, and keep coming back?

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

离不开的中国菜市场在菜市场，钟淑如总能学到快失传的手艺。

lí bù kāi de zhōng guó cài shì chǎng zài cài shì chǎng , zhōng shū rú zǒng néng xué dào kuài shī chuán de shǒu yì .

The Indispensable Chinese Market At the market, Zhong Shuru always manages to learn culinary techniques that are on the verge of being lost.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

专访钟淑如：深耕市井烟火，探寻菜市场中的中国式生活

zhuān fǎng zhōng shū rú : shēn gēng shì jǐng yān huǒ , tàn xún cài shì chǎng zhōng de zhōng guó shì shēng huó

An Exclusive Interview with Zhong Shuru: Delving into Everyday Life and Exploring the Chinese Way of Life in the Farmers' Market

中国新闻网·体育Jul 2026

王欣瑜与中国台北选手谢淑薇组成的“海峡组合”进入16强。

wáng xīn yú yǔ zhōng guó tái běi xuǎn shǒu xiè shū wēi zǔ chéng de hǎi xiá zǔ hé jìn rù 1 6 qiáng .

Wang Xinyu and Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Su-wei, known as the “Strait Duo,” advanced to the round of 16.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component

没méi 活huó 海hǎi 清qīng 消xiāo 流liú 满mǎn 注zhù 激jī 洛luò

Related Characters

河hé 海hǎi 洋yáng 江jiāng 湖hú 溪xī 流liú 池chí 汤tāng 汁zhī

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 淑 (shū) mean in Chinese?

淑 (shū) primarily means "(bound form) (of women) gentle." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #2665 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 淑 and 督?

淑 (shū) and 督 (dū) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 氵 vs 目 (same 叔 component).

How many strokes does 淑 have?

淑 is written with 11 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 淑?

The radical associated with 淑 is 氵 (water). This radical appears in many characters related to water.

What are the components of 淑?

淑 is composed of: 氵 (semantic), 叔 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰氵叔 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 淑?

Common words with 淑 include: 淑女 (shū nǚ, "wise and virtuous woman"); 贤淑 (xián shū, "(of a woman) virtuous"); 淑静 (shū jìng, "gentle"); 遇人不淑 (yù rén bù shū, "(idiom) to be in a relationship with or marry a bad person"); 淑人君子 (shū rén jūn zi, "virtuous gentleman (idiom)"). There are over 9 compound words containing this character.

Is 淑 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

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

Practice writing 淑 with real-time feedback

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