勇 (yǒng): brave
勇 (yǒng) is a Chinese character meaning “brave.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 甬 (phonetic) and 力 (semantic). It ranks #1201 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 勇 strength. Its radical form 力 (power) appears in many related characters such as 动 (dòng, (of sth) to move), 力 (lì, power), 办 (bàn, to take care of (a matter)).
Definitions
- brave
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 勇 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 勇
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 勇士 | yǒng shì | a warrior |
| 英勇 | yīng yǒng | heroic |
| 勇猛 | yǒng měng | bold and powerful |
| 勇往直前 | yǒng wǎng zhí qián | to advance bravely |
| 自告奋勇 | zì gào fèn yǒng | to volunteer for |
| 奋勇 | fèn yǒng | dauntless |
| 见义勇为 | jiàn yì yǒng wéi | (idiom, from the Analects) (usu. of a passer-by who comes across a critical situation) to step in and help |
| 神勇 | shén yǒng | extraordinarily brave |
| 散兵游勇 | sǎn bīng yóu yǒng | lit. straggling and disbanded soldiers (idiom) |
| 义勇军 | yì yǒng jūn | volunteer army |
| 勇武 | yǒng wǔ | brave |
| 忠勇 | zhōng yǒng | loyal and brave |
| 好汉不提当年勇 | hǎo hàn bù tí dāng nián yǒng | a real man doesn't boast about his past achievements (idiom) |
| 勇往前进 | yǒng wǎng qián jìn | see 勇往直前[yong3 wang3 zhi2 qian2] |
| 义勇军进行曲 | yì yǒng jūn jìn xíng qǔ | March of the Volunteer Army (PRC National Anthem) |
勇 appears in 40 compound words: 33 as the first character, 40 as the last, and 28 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 勇 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
a great hero may appear timid (idiom); the really brave person remains level-headed
scattered and disassociated soldiers; person who does not belong to a group
to be foolhardy; to be brave but to lack a strategic mind; all brawn and no brains
to offer to do something voluntarily and enthusiastically; to volunteer for
Showing 8 of 9 idioms containing 勇.
Example Sentences
他勇敢地站出来，指出了问题的所在。
Tā yǒnggǎn de zhàn chūlai, zhǐchū le wèntí de suǒzài.
He bravely stepped forward and pointed out where the problem lay.
卡尔梅科娃体操世界杯德国站勇夺双金
kǎ ěr méi kē wá tǐ cāo shì jiè bēi dé guó zhàn yǒng duó shuāng jīn
Kalmykova won double gold at the Gymnastics World Cup in Germany
黄韦龙:真话的勇气
huáng 韦 lóng : zhēn huà de yǒng qì
Huang Weilong: The courage to tell the truth
NBA/波尔辛吉斯只为勇士打一场就受伤!确定不随队出征客场之旅
N B A bō ěr xīn jí sī zhī wéi yǒng shì dǎ yī chǎng jiù shòu shāng ! què dìng bù suí duì chū zhēng kè chǎng zhī lǚ
NBA/Porzingis was injured after only one game for the Warriors! It is confirmed that he will not go on an away trip with the team
眼镜店老板:钦佩神韵揭露迫害的勇气和智慧
yǎn jìng diàn lǎo bǎn : qīn pèi shén yùn jiē lù pò hài de yǒng qì hé zhì huì
Optical shop owner: Admire Shen Yun's courage and wisdom in exposing persecution
请停留3秒 为这5位空军勇士献花!今天是万家团圆的..
qǐng tíng liú miǎo wéi zhè wèi kōng jūn yǒng shì xiàn huā ! jīn tiān shì mò jiā tuán yuán de . .
Please stay for 3 seconds to lay flowers for these 5 Air Force warriors! Today is the day of family reunion...
汤姆非常勇敢，不是么？
Tāngmǔ fēicháng yǒnggǎn, bù shì me?
Tom is very courageous, isn't he?
他英勇的行为带给了他光荣。
Tā yīngyǒng de xíngwéi dàigěi le tā guāngróng.
His acts of courage brought him glory.
士兵们失去了战斗的勇气。
Shìbīngmen shīqù le zhàndòu de yǒngqì.
The soldiers lost the courage to fight.
我很佩服他的勇气。
Wǒ hěn pèifú tā de yǒngqì.
I admire his courage.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 勇 (yǒng)?
Is 勇 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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