朽 (xiǔ): rotten
朽 (xiǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “rotten.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 木 (structural) and 丂 (structural). It ranks #2448 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 朽 the wood of a dying 丂 tree 木. Its radical form 木 (tree) appears in many related characters such as 本 (běn, (bound form) root), 机 (jī, machine, opportunity), 条 (tiáo, strip).
Definitions
- rotten
Etymology & Origin
ideographicThe wood of a dying 丂 tree 木
Decomposition: ⿰木丂 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 朽 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 腐朽 | fǔ xiǔ | rotten |
| 不朽 | bù xiǔ | to last forever |
| 永垂不朽 | yǒng chuí bù xiǔ | eternal glory |
| 朽木 | xiǔ mù | rotten wood |
| 老朽 | lǎo xiǔ | decrepit and behind the times |
| 朽烂 | xiǔ làn | rotten |
| 化腐朽为神奇 | huà fǔ xiǔ wéi shén qí | lit. to change something rotten into something magical (idiom) |
| 三不朽 | sān bù xiǔ | the three imperishables, three ways to distinguish oneself that aren't forgotten by history: through one's virtue 立德[... |
| 朽木不可雕 | xiǔ mù bù kě diāo | lit. rotten wood cannot be carved (idiom) |
| 朽坏 | xiǔ huài | rotten |
| 衰朽 | shuāi xiǔ | decaying |
| 朽蠹 | xiǔ dù | to decay and be eaten by worms etc |
| 枯朽 | kū xiǔ | withered and rotten |
| 颓朽 | tuí xiǔ | decaying |
朽 appears in 14 compound words: 36 as the first character, 57 as the last, and 7 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 朽 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
...屋顶突塌!男受困50分钟脱困 初判木梁腐朽酿祸
. . . wū dǐng tū tā ! nán shòu kùn 5 0 fēn zhōng tuō kùn chū pàn mù liáng fǔ xiǔ niàng huò
不共戴天的敌人是不朽的朋友。
Bùgòngdàitiān de dírén shì bù xiǔ de péngyou.
Mortal enemies are immortal friends.
问题不是政治不纯洁，而是整个政治博弈已经腐朽。
Wèntí bù shì zhèngzhì bù chúnjié, érshì zhěnggè zhèngzhì bóyì yǐjīng fǔxiǔ.
The trouble is not with impure politics, but that the whole game of politics is rotten.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 朽 (xiǔ)?
Is 朽 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 朽 with real-time feedback
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