勿 (wù): do not
勿 (wù) is a Chinese character meaning “do not.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 勹 (structural), 丿 (structural) and 丿 (structural). It ranks #2461 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 勿 a knife 勹 cutting fragments 丿 off. Its radical form 勹 (wrap) appears in many related characters such as 包 (bāo, to cover), 勺 (sháo, spoon), 勾 (gōu, to attract).
Definitions
- do not
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA knife 勹 cutting fragments 丿 off
Decomposition: ⿹勹⿰丿丿 (layout: surround-from-upper-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 勿 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 请勿adverb | qǐng wù | please don't |
| 己所不欲，勿施于人 | jǐ suǒ bù yù , wù shī yú rén | What you don't want done to you, don't do to others. (idiom, from the Confucian analects) |
| 勿谓言之不预phrase | wù wèi yán zhī bù yù | (idiom) don't say you haven't been forewarned (threat used by the PRC in international diplomacy) |
| 格杀勿论phrase | gé shā wù lùn | (idiom) to kill on sight (without fear of prosecution) |
| 勿求人noun | wù qiú rén | see 不求人 |
| 请勿打扰phrase | qǐng wù dǎ rǎo | please do not disturb |
| 姑置勿论 | gū zhì wù lùn | (idiom) to put (an issue) to one side for the moment |
| 勿忘我noun | wù wàng wǒ | forget-me-not, genus Myosotis (botany) |
| 请勿吸烟 | qǐng wù xī yān | No smoking |
| 不喜勿喷 | bù xǐ wù pēn | (Internet slang) if you don't like it, don't flame |
| 非诚勿扰phrase | fēi chéng wù rǎo | serious inquiries only |
| 宁左勿右 | nìng zuǒ wù yòu | (of one's political views) to prefer left rather than right (idiom during the Cultural Revolution) |
| 勿忘国耻 | wù wàng guó chǐ | Never forget national humiliation, refers to Mukden railway incident of 18th September 1931 九一八事變|九一八事变 and subsequen... |
| 切勿adverb | qiè wù | by no means |
| 苟富贵，勿相忘 | gǒu fù guì , wù xiāng wàng | don't forget your friends when you become rich |
勿 appears in 19 compound words: 26 as the first character, 11 as the last, and 63 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 勿 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
Use of deadly force authorized; it is permitted to kill (someone) without any legal consequence.
Use of deadly force authorized; it is permitted to kill (someone) without any legal consequence.
Showing 4 of 5 idioms containing 勿.
Example Sentences
请勿吸烟，保持清洁。
Qǐng wù xīyān, bǎochí qīngjié.
Please do not smoke, keep clean.
...疫情升温!49人染病3人不治 当局急呼吁勿吃生猪肉
. . . yì qíng shēng wēn ! 4 9 rén rǎn bìng 3 rén bù zhì dāng jú jí hū xū wù chī shēng zhū ròu
... The epidemic is heating up! 49 people were infected and 3 died The authorities urgently appealed not to eat raw pork
示警勿一味靠向美国!黄介正点出最怕川普对台湾说...
shì jǐng wù yī wèi kào xiàng měi guó ! huáng jiè zhèng diǎn chū zuì pà chuān pǔ duì tái wān shuō . . .
Warning not to blindly lean on the United States! Huang Jiezheng pointed out that he was most afraid of Trump saying to Taiwan...
竹县初选 徐欣莹、陈见贤吁勿内斗
zhú xiàn chū xuǎn xú xīn yíng , chén jiàn xián xū wù nèi dǒu
Zhuxian primary election Xu Xinying and Chen Jianxian called on not to fight infighting
国民党竹县初选 徐欣莹、陈见贤吁勿内斗
guó mín dǎng zhú xiàn chū xuǎn xú xīn yíng , chén jiàn xián xū wù nèi dǒu
Kuomintang Zhuxian primary election Xu Xinying and Chen Jianxian called on not to fight infighting
黄友凤吁警遵循指示 勿以服装为由拒报案
huáng yǒu fèng xū jǐng zūn xún zhǐ shì wù yǐ fú zhuāng wéi yóu jù bào àn
Huang Youfeng urges police to follow procedures and not refuse to take reports based on clothing
穿过花园时，请勿践踏花坛。
Chuānguò huāyuán shí, qǐng wù jiàntà huātán.
Please don’t stomp on the flower beds when you walk through the garden.
饭勿要盛得满得很。
Fàn wù yào shèng de mǎn dehěn.
Don't fill up your bowl with too much food.
如有火警，切勿使用升降机。
Rú yǒu huǒjǐng, qièwù shǐyòng shēngjiàngjī.
In case of fire, do not use the lift.
公园的告示牌上写着「请勿践踏草地」。
Gōngyuán de gàoshìpái shàng xiě zhe "qǐng wù jiàntà cǎodì."
The park sign says "Please keep off the grass."
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 勿 (wù) mean in Chinese?
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What are the components of 勿?
What are common words containing 勿?
What characters sound the same as 勿 (wù)?
Is 勿 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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