秃 (tū): bald (lacking hair or feathers), barren, bare, denuded, blunt (lacking a point)

秃 (tū) is a Chinese character meaning “bald (lacking hair or feathers).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 禾 (structural) and 几 (structural). It ranks #2434 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 秃 grains of hair 禾 on a person's head 几. Its radical form 禾 (grain) appears in many related characters such as 秋 (qiū, autumn), 科 (kē, branch of study), 租 (zū, to hire).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. bald (lacking hair or feathers)
  2. barren
  3. bare
  4. denuded
  5. blunt (lacking a point)

Etymology & Origin

秃

ideographicGrains of hair 禾 on a person's head 几

Decomposition: ⿱禾几 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
秃头nountū tóuto bare one's head
秃顶nountū dǐngbald head
秃子nountū zibald-headed person
秃鹰nountū yīngvulture
秃鹫nountū jiùvulture
光秃秃adjectiveguāng tū tūbald
指着和尚骂秃子zhǐ zhe hé shang mà tū zilit. to insult a bald man while pointing at a monk (idiom)
对着和尚骂贼秃duì zhe hé shang mà zéi tū(lit.) in the presence of a monk, insult another monk, calling him a bald-headed bandit (saying)
秃发nountū fāa branch of the Xianbei 鮮卑|鲜卑 nomadic people
秃宝盖nountū bǎo gàiname of "cover" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 14)
圆秃yuán tūspot baldness (alopecia areata)
秃鼻乌鸦tū bí wū yā(bird species of China) rook (Corvus frugilegus)
秃驴nountū lǘ(derog.) Buddhist monk
秃疮nountū chuāng(dialect) favus of the scalp (skin disease)
秃鹳nountū guàn(bird species of China) lesser adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus)
18
Total compounds
67
As first character
22
As last character
11
As middle character

秃 appears in 18 compound words: 67 as the first character, 22 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 秃 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

鹰yīng
0.557360 co-occurrences
忽hū
0.536440 co-occurrences
馁něi
0.50514 co-occurrences
帖tiē
0.495184 co-occurrences
惕tì
0.47960 co-occurrences
兀wù
0.43242 co-occurrences
豁huò
0.42646 co-occurrences
儿ér
0.415318 co-occurrences
彻chè
0.41480 co-occurrences
鸦yā
0.41334 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

秃字由7笔画组成,结构很巧妙。

tū zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .

The character "秃" consists of seven strokes and has a very clever structure.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

喜鹊搭桥,拔掉头顶的羽毛作桥身,所以七夕那天所有喜鹊头顶都会秃一块。

xǐ 鹊 dā qiáo , bá diào tóu dǐng de yǔ máo zuò qiáo shēn , suǒ yǐ qī xī nà tiān suǒ yǒu xǐ 鹊 tóu dǐng dōu huì tū yī kuài .

Magpies build a bridge by plucking the feathers from the tops of their heads to form the bridge, which is why all magpies have a bald spot on their heads on the Qixi Festival.

少数派Aug 2026

光秃秃的平面上,所有东西都在同一高度,显得拥挤又扁平。

guāng tū tū de píng miàn shàng , suǒ yǒu dōng xī dōu zài tóng yī gāo dù , xiǎn dé yōng jǐ yòu piān píng .

On the bare, flat surface, everything is at the same level, making it look cramped and flat.

中国新闻网·生活Jun 2026

斑秃可能与许多皮肤疾病有关,比如荨麻疹、银屑病、白癜风、特应性皮炎等。

bān tū kě néng yǔ xǔ duō pí fū jí bìng yǒu guān , bǐ rú 荨 má 疹 , yín xiè bìng , bái 癜 fēng , tè yīng xìng pí yán děng .

Alopecia areata may be associated with many skin conditions, such as hives, psoriasis, vitiligo, and atopic dermatitis.

The Beijing NewsApr 2026

北运河露营车辆轧秃绿地,回应:多部门联合治理丨有事儿@新京...

běi yùn hé lù yíng chē liàng 轧 tū lǜ dì , huí yīng : duō bù mén lián gě zhì lǐ 丨 yǒu shì ér xīn jīng . . .

Camping Vehicles Damage Grasslands Along the North Canal; Response: Joint Action by Multiple Departments | News @ Beijing News...

UdnnewsindexMar 2026

...反问媒体“化学反应” 杜兰特:赢球能让“秃鹰”闭嘴

. . . fǎn wèn méi tǐ huà xué fǎn yīng dù lán tè : yíng qiú néng ràng tū yīng bì zuǐ

...When asked by the media about "chemistry," Durant said: "Winning will shut the 'Bald Eagles' up."

Tatoeba

他是个很安静的人,头顶有点秃。

Tā shì ge hěn ānjìng de rén, tóu dǐng yǒudiǎn tū.

He's a quiet man, a little bald on top.

Tatoeba

他很年轻就开始秃头了。

Tā hěn niánqīng jiù kāishǐ tūtóu le.

He started going bald quite young.

Tatoeba

我不明白为什么他全秃还要去理发店。

Wǒ bù míngbai wèishénme tā quán tū hái yào qù lǐfǎdiàn.

I don't understand why he goes to the barber's, as he is bald.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced tū

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 秃 (tū) mean in Chinese?
秃 (tū) primarily means "bald (lacking hair or feathers)." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2434 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 秃 have?
秃 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 秃?
The radical associated with 秃 is 禾 (grain). This radical appears in many characters related to grain.
What are the components of 秃?
秃 is composed of: 禾 (structural), 几 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱禾几 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 秃?
Common words with 秃 include: 秃头 (tū tóu, "to bare one's head"); 秃顶 (tū dǐng, "bald head"); 秃子 (tū zi, "bald-headed person"); 秃鹰 (tū yīng, "vulture"); 秃鹫 (tū jiù, "vulture"). There are over 18 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 秃 (tū)?
Several characters share the pronunciation tū: 图 (diagram), 突 (sudden), 土 (earth, soil), 途 (way, journey), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 秃 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 秃 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 秃 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.