锈 (xiù): rust

锈 (xiù) is a Chinese character meaning “rust.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 钅 (semantic) and 秀 (phonetic). It ranks #2893 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 锈 metal. Its radical form 钅 (metal) appears in many related characters such as 钱 (qián, money), 错 (cuò, wrong, mistake), 钟 (zhōng, clock, bell).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. rust

Etymology & Origin

锈

pictophoneticmetal

Decomposition: ⿰钅秀 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
生锈verbshēng xiù(of metal) to rust
不锈钢nounbù xiù gāngstainless steel
铁锈nountiě xiùrust
防锈fáng xiùto prevent rust
锈迹xiù jìrust stain
锈斑nounxiù bānrust spot
锈蚀verbxiù shíto rust away
刀不磨要生锈,人不学要落后dāo bù mó yào shēng xiù , rén bù xué yào luò hòu(proverb) a blade will get rusty if it is not sharpened
永不生锈的螺丝钉yǒng bù shēng xiù de luó sī dīnga "screw that never rusts" – metaphor used in CCP propaganda to praise loyal, selfless contributors, famously applied...
不锈铁bù xiù tiěrust-resistant iron (an informal term for certain nickel-free stainless steels, usually of lower quality and less cor...
铁锈带proper-nountiě xiù dàiRust Belt
锈红腹旋木雀xiù hóng fù xuán mù què(bird species of China) rusty-flanked treecreeper (Certhia nipalensis)
锈脸钩嘴鹛xiù liǎn gōu zuǐ méi(bird species of China) rusty-cheeked scimitar babbler (Erythrogenys erythrogenys)
锈胸蓝姬鹟xiù xiōng lán jī wēng(bird species of China) slaty-backed flycatcher (Ficedula erithacus)
铜锈层tóng xiù céngpatina
19
Total compounds
42
As first character
26
As last character
32
As middle character

锈 appears in 19 compound words: 42 as the first character, 26 as the last, and 32 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 锈 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

钢gāng
0.6581,991 co-occurrences
蚀shí
0.575266 co-occurrences
铝lǚ
0.44728 co-occurrences
铜tóng
0.431158 co-occurrences
涂tú
0.41662 co-occurrences
皂zào
0.41326 co-occurrences
不bù
0.4101,996 co-occurrences
斑bān
0.40596 co-occurrences
钉dīng
0.40318 co-occurrences
绒róng
0.39420 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这把椅子生锈了,需要用砂纸打磨一下。

Zhè bǎ yǐzi shēngxiù le, xūyào yòng shāzhǐ dǎmó yíxià.

This chair has rusted; it needs to be sanded with sandpaper.

少数派Aug 2026

盛液盘材质:不锈钢、搪瓷 买灶具,关注好热效率和热负荷,基本就够了。

shèng yè pán cái zhì : bù xiù gāng , 搪 cí mǎi zào jù , guān zhù hǎo rè xiào lǜ hé rè fù hé , jī běn jiù gòu le .

Drip pan materials: stainless steel, enamel. When buying a stove, just make sure to check the thermal efficiency and heat load—that’s basically all you need to do.

上海有色网Apr 2026

SS期货冲高破高 不锈钢期现货联动走强

S S qī huò chōng gāo pò gāo bù xiù gāng qī xiàn huò lián dòng zǒu qiáng

SS futures surge to new highs; stainless steel futures and spot prices rise in tandem

上海有色网Apr 2026

...日评:金属涨跌互现 氧化铝8连跌 铂、不锈钢涨逾1% 双焦继续下挫 】

. . . rì píng : jīn shǔ zhǎng diē hù xiàn yǎng huà lǚ 8 lián diē 铂 , bù xiù gāng zhǎng yú 1 shuāng jiāo jì xù xià cuò

...Daily Review: Metals Mixed; Alumina Falls for 8th Straight Session; Platinum and Stainless Steel Rise Over 1%; Coking Coal and Coke Continue to Slide】

鉅亨網 - 財經新聞、全球指數、股市報價、商品行情、理財投資Mar 2026

...火延烧推升原物料价格 华新全面调涨4月不锈钢盘价

. . . huǒ yán shāo tuī shēng yuán wù liào jià gé huá xīn quán miàn diào zhǎng 4 yuè bù xiù gāng pán jià

...As the fire rages on, driving up raw material prices, Hua Hsin has implemented a comprehensive increase in its April stainless steel list prices

Tatoeba

你有除锈的东西吗?

Nǐ yǒu chú xiù de dōngxi ma?

Do you have anything to remove stains?

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 钅 (metal) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced xiù

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 锈 (xiù) mean in Chinese?
锈 (xiù) primarily means "rust." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2893 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 锈 and 透?
锈 (xiù) and 透 (tòu) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 钅 vs 辶 (same 秀 component).
How many strokes does 锈 have?
锈 is written with 12 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 锈?
The radical associated with 锈 is 钅 (metal). This radical appears in many characters related to metal.
What are the components of 锈?
锈 is composed of: 钅 (semantic), 秀 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰钅秀 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 锈?
Common words with 锈 include: 生锈 (shēng xiù, "(of metal) to rust"); 不锈钢 (bù xiù gāng, "stainless steel"); 铁锈 (tiě xiù, "rust"); 防锈 (fáng xiù, "to prevent rust"); 锈迹 (xiù jì, "rust stain"). There are over 19 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 锈 (xiù)?
Several characters share the pronunciation xiù: 绣 (to embroider), 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 锈 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 锈 and the traditional form is 銹.

Practice writing 锈 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.