秀 (xiù): (bound form) refined, elegant, graceful, beautiful, (bound form) superior, excellent, (loanword) show
秀 (xiù) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) refined.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 禾 (semantic) and 乃 (structural). It ranks #1134 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 秀 flower. Its radical form 禾 (grain) appears in many related characters such as 秋 (qiū, autumn), 科 (kē, branch of study), 租 (zū, to hire).
Definitions
- (bound form) refined
- elegant
- graceful
- beautiful
- (bound form) superior
- excellent
- (loanword) show
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 秀 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 秀
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 秀发noun | xiù fà | beautiful hair |
| 秀雅 | xiù yǎ | exquisite |
| 后起之秀phrase | hòu qǐ zhī xiù | (idiom) an up-and-coming youngster |
| 新秀noun | xīn xiù | rising star |
| 选秀verb | xuǎn xiù | to select talented individuals |
| 作秀verb | zuò xiù | to show off (loanword, from English "show") |
| 秀丽adjective | xiù lì | pretty |
| 秀美adjective | xiù měi | elegant |
| 才艺秀 | cái yì xiù | talent show |
| 秀英 | xiù yīng | see 秀英區|秀英区 |
| 俊秀adjective | jùn xiù | well-favored |
| 闺秀noun | guī xiù | well-bred young lady |
| 秀才noun | xiù cai | a person who has passed the county level imperial exam (historical) |
| 秀气adjective | xiù qi | delicate |
| 清秀adjective | qīng xiù | delicate and pretty |
秀 appears in 88 compound words: 32 as the first character, 50 as the last, and 18 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 秀 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (11)
TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi (1536-1598), Japanese warlord, undisputed ruler of Japan 1590-1598
Example Sentences
秀字由7笔画组成，结构很巧妙。
xiù zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .
The character "秀" consists of seven strokes and features a remarkably ingenious structure.
辉达GTC将秀新品 台积、鸿海等营运进补
huī dá G T C jiāng xiù xīn pǐn tái jī , 鸿 hǎi děng yíng yùn jìn bǔ
Nvidia GTC will show off new products TSMC, Hon Hai and other operating supplements
珍惜生命|秀茂坪顺利邨45岁妇堕楼 昏迷送院抢救不治
zhēn xī shēng mìng xiù mào píng shùn lì 邨 4 5 suì fù duò lóu hūn mí sòng yuàn qiǎng jiù bù zhì
Cherish Life|A 45-year-old woman fell from a building in Shunli Estate of Sau Mau Ping and was sent to the hospital in a coma for rescue
秀茂坪顺利邨妇人堕楼亡 原因待查
xiù mào píng shùn lì 邨 fù rén duò lóu wáng yuán yīn dài chá
The cause of the death of a woman in Shunli Village, Sau Mau Ping, who fell from a building is to be investigated
中职》工藤改造的吕彦青首秀“期待以下” 平野惠一解释原因
zhōng zhí gōng téng gǎi zào de lǚ 彦 qīng shǒu xiù qī dài yǐ xià píng yě huì yī jiě shì yuán yīn
"Secondary Vocational School" Kudo transformation's Lu Yanqing's debut "looking forward to the following" Keiichi Hirano explained the reason
爱迪生不是个优秀的学生。
àidíshēng bù shì ge yōuxiù de xuésheng.
Edison was not a bright student.
从山顶上可以欣赏到秀丽的海景。
Cóng shāndǐng shàng kěyǐ xīnshǎng dào xiùlì de hǎijǐng.
You can get a fine view of the sea from the mountaintop.
她丈夫是个优秀的厨师。
Tā zhàngfu shì gè yōuxiù de chúshī.
Her husband is an excellent cook.
汤姆比其他人都优秀能干。
Tāngmǔ bǐ qítā rén dōu yōuxiù nénggàn.
Tom is head and shoulders above others.
我知道汤姆是优秀的排球手。
Wǒ zhīdào Tāngmǔ shì yōuxiù de páiqiú shǒu.
I know Tom is a good volleyball player.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 禾 (flower) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 秀 (xiù) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 秀 and 恶?
How many strokes does 秀 have?
What is the radical of 秀?
What are the components of 秀?
What are common words containing 秀?
What characters sound the same as 秀 (xiù)?
Is 秀 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 秀 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.