绣 (xiù): to embroider, embroidery

绣 (xiù) is a Chinese character meaning “to embroider.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 纟 (semantic) and 秀 (phonetic). It ranks #2355 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 绣 silk. Its radical form 纟 (silk) appears in many related characters such as 系 (xì, to connect), 累 (lèi, tired), 绍 (shào, to continue).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to embroider
  2. embroidery

Etymology & Origin

绣

pictophoneticsilk

Decomposition: ⿰纟秀 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
刺绣verbcì xiùto embroider
绣花verbxiù huāto embroider
锦绣前程phrasejǐn xiù qián chéngbright future
绣花鞋nounxiù huā xiéembroidered shoes
锦绣nounjǐn xiùbeautiful
日本绣眼鸟rì běn xiù yǎn niǎo(bird species of China) warbling white-eye (Zosterops japonicus)
低地绣眼鸟dī dì xiù yǎn niǎo(bird species of China) lowland white-eye (Zosterops meyeni)
十字绣nounshí zì xiùcross-stitch
绣球花nounxiù qiú huāhydrangea
红胁绣眼鸟hóng xié xiù yǎn niǎo(bird species of China) chestnut-flanked white-eye (Zosterops erythropleurus)
暗绿绣眼鸟àn lǜ xiù yǎn niǎo(bird species of China) Swinhoe's white-eye (Zosterops simplex)
锦心绣口jǐn xīn xiù kǒu(of writing) elegant and ornate
刺绣品cì xiù pǐnembroidery
绣像xiù xiàngcharacter illustrations in classical Chinese novels
灰腹绣眼鸟huī fù xiù yǎn niǎo(bird species of China) Indian white-eye (Zosterops palpebrosus)
26
Total compounds
27
As first character
35
As last character
38
As middle character

绣 appears in 26 compound words: 27 as the first character, 35 as the last, and 38 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 绣 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

锦jǐn
0.6291,778 co-occurrences
刺cì
0.5061,174 co-occurrences
细xì
0.47111 co-occurrences
菊jú
0.447202 co-occurrences
鸟niǎo
0.427208 co-occurrences
鞋xié
0.420122 co-occurrences
绒róng
0.41546 co-occurrences
绸chóu
0.41234 co-occurrences
蜀shǔ
0.406112 co-occurrences
粤yuè
0.40282 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (3)

花拳绣腿huāquánxiùtuǐHSK 7+

highly embellished and ineffectual; fancy but impractical skills; all show and no go; pugilistic

phrase
锦心绣口jǐn xīn xiù kǒuHSK 7+

(of writing) elegant and ornate

phrase
锦绣前程jǐnxiùqiánchéngHSK 7+

splendid prospects; glorious future

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

绣字的写法很特别,让我印象深刻。

xiù zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .

The embroidered characters were written in a very distinctive style that left a deep impression on me.

中国军网Feb 2026

习近平的两会之喻丨城市管理应该像绣花一样精细

xí jìn píng de liǎng huì zhī yù 丨 chéng shì guǎn lǐ yīng gāi xiàng xiù huā yī yàng jīng xì

Xi Jinping's metaphor for the two sessions丨Urban management should be as fine as embroidery

StheadlineFeb 2026

...妙龄少女激吻细30岁男星 80集新作《锦绣安然》陷争议

. . . miào líng shǎo nǚ jī wěn xì 3 0 suì nán xīng 8 0 jí xīn zuò jǐn xiù ān rán xiàn zhēng yì

... The young girl kissed the 30-year-old male star in 80 episodes of the new work "Splendid Enron" was controversial

光明网_新闻视野、文化视角、思想深度、理论高度Feb 2026

【锦绣中国年】铆劲冲刺赶订单_光明网

jǐn xiù zhōng guó nián 铆 jìn chōng cì gǎn dìng dān guāng míng wǎng

【Splendid Chinese Year】Riveting sprint to catch up with orders_Guangming.com

光明网_新闻视野、文化视角、思想深度、理论高度Feb 2026

【锦绣中国年】踏雪穿林巡边忙_光明网

jǐn xiù zhōng guó nián tà xuě chuān lín xún biān máng guāng míng wǎng

【Splendid Chinese Year】Busy patrolling the border through the snow through the forest_Guangming.com

三立新聞網Feb 2026

9人吃2万 杨绣惠揭冲绳餐厅规定:被当盘子

9 rén chī 2 wàn yáng xiù huì jiē chōng shéng cān tīng guī dìng : bèi dāng pán zǐ

9 people eat 20,000 Yang Xiuhui revealed the rules of the Okinawan restaurant: being used as a plate

Tatoeba

绣球在六月开花。

Xiù qiú zài Liùyuè kāihuā.

The hydrangea blooms in June.

Tatoeba

某些绣球花的颜色取决于土壤的酸碱值:土壤酸性越强,花朵颜色越蓝。

Mǒuxiē xiùqiúhuā de yánsè qǔjué yú tǔrǎng de suānjiǎnzhí: tǔrǎng suānxìng yuè qiáng, huāduǒ yánsè yuè lán.

The colour of some hydrangeas is determined by the pH value of the soil: the more acidic it is, the bluer the flowers are.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 纟 (silk) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced xiù

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 绣 (xiù) mean in Chinese?
绣 (xiù) primarily means "to embroider." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2355 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 绣 and 透?
绣 (xiù) and 透 (tòu) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 纟 vs 辶 (same 秀 component).
How many strokes does 绣 have?
绣 is written with 10 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 绣?
The radical associated with 绣 is 纟 (silk). This radical appears in many characters related to silk.
What are the components of 绣?
绣 is composed of: 纟 (semantic), 秀 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰纟秀 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 绣?
Common words with 绣 include: 刺绣 (cì xiù, "to embroider"); 绣花 (xiù huā, "to embroider"); 锦绣前程 (jǐn xiù qián chéng, "bright future"); 绣花鞋 (xiù huā xié, "embroidered shoes"); 锦绣 (jǐn xiù, "beautiful"). There are over 26 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 绣 (xiù)?
Several characters share the pronunciation xiù: 锈 (rust), 修 (to decorate), 休 (to rest), 秀 ((bound form) refined), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 绣 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 绣 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 绣 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.