(yòu): (literary) to induce, to entice

(yòu) is a Chinese character meaning “(literary) to induce.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural) and (structural). It ranks #1692 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, to use elegant 秀 words 讠; 秀 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form (speech) appears in many related characters such as (rèn, to recognize, to admit), (, to remember, to record), (shí, to know, knowledge).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (literary) to induce
  2. to entice

Etymology & Origin

ideographicTo use elegant 秀 words 讠; 秀 also provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿰讠秀 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
yòu huòto entice
yǐn yòuto coerce (sb into doing sth bad)
yòu ěrbait
yòu rénattractive
yòu guǎito abduct
yòu dǎoto induce
yòu piànto entice
yòu bǔto trap (an animal)
yòu fāto induce
yòu yīncause
使yòu shǐto lure into
yòu jiānto seduce (into sex)
lì yòuto use gain as a lure
xún xún shàn yòuto guide patiently and systematically (idiom)
quàn yòuto prevail upon
24
Total compounds
63
As first character
38
As last character
0
As middle character

appears in 24 compound words: 63 as the first character, 38 as the last, and 0 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

ěr
0.7182,844 co-occurrences
huò
0.6415,938 co-occurrences
piàn
0.5792,118 co-occurrences
dǎo
0.54113,086 co-occurrences
guǎi
0.529918 co-occurrences
0.4641,902 co-occurrences
quàn
0.457690 co-occurrences
yǐn
0.4536,774 co-occurrences
shā
0.4031,662 co-occurrences
diāo
0.400102 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

wēibīlìyòuHSK 7+

to coerce and bribe; to threaten and bribe

phrase
xúnxúnshànyòuHSK 7+

to teach in a systematic and skilful way

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

传身教是最好的教育方式。

yòu chuán shēn jiào shì zuì hǎo de jiào yù fāng shì .

Leading by example is the best form of education.

Orientaldaily MyMar 2026

骗同乡偷渡来马劳动剥削 移民局捕4孟加拉...

yòu piàn tóng xiāng tōu dù lái mǎ láo dòng bāo xiāo yí mín jú bǔ 4 mèng jiā lā . . .

Tricking fellow villagers to smuggle into Malaysia for labor exploitation, immigration bureau arrests 4 Bangladesh...

Hk01.comFeb 2026

男星基斯宾高化惊爆性丑闻 藉工女模赴美 非法禁锢逼当性奴

nán xīng jī sī bīn gāo huà jīng bào xìng chǒu wén 藉 gōng yòu nǚ mó fù měi fēi fǎ jīn 锢 bī dāng xìng nú

Actor Kispeng Gao Hua shocked the sex scandal and lured female models to the United States to illegally imprison and force them to be sex slaves

公視新聞網 PnnFeb 2026

美研发AI水下无人载具 可发射饵鱼雷、无人机

měi yán fā A I shuǐ xià wú rén zài jù kě fā shè yòu ěr yú léi , wú rén jī

The United States has developed AI underwater unmanned vehicles that can launch decoy torpedoes and drones

東方日報Feb 2026

至少两名南非公民被骗为俄作战 在战事中丧生

zhì shǎo liǎng míng nán fēi gōng mín bèi yòu piàn wéi é zuò zhàn zài zhàn shì zhōng sāng shēng

At least two South African citizens were tricked into fighting for Russia and were killed in the fighting

光明网_新闻视野、文化视角、思想深度、理论高度Feb 2026

原子核能量发释放机制获新突破_光明网

yuán zǐ hé néng liàng yòu fā shì fàng jī zhì huò xīn tū pò guāng míng wǎng

New breakthroughs in the mechanism of induced release of nuclear energy_Guangming.com

Tatoeba

你不应该屈服在惑之下。

Nǐ bù yīnggāi qūfú zài yòuhuò zhīxià.

You must not yield to temptation.

Tatoeba

我抵抗不了甜食的惑。

Wǒ dǐkàngbuliǎo tiánshí de yòuhuò.

I can't resist sweets.

Tatoeba

她终于受不了惑,吃掉了整件蛋糕。

Tā zhōngyú shòubùliǎo yòuhuò, chīdiào le zhěng jiàn dàngāo.

Finally she gave in to temptation and ate the whole cake.

Tatoeba

虽然她节食, 巧克力蛋糕仍然惑着她。

Suīrán tā jiéshí, qiǎokèlì dàngāo réngrán yòuhuò zhe tā.

Even though she is dieting, the chocolate cake still tempts her.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced yòu

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 诱 (yòu) mean in Chinese?
诱 (yòu) primarily means "(literary) to induce." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1692 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 诱 have?
诱 is written with 9 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 诱?
The radical associated with 诱 is 讠 (speech). This radical appears in many characters related to speech.
What are the components of 诱?
诱 is composed of: 讠 (structural), 秀 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰讠秀 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 诱?
Common words with 诱 include: 诱惑 (yòu huò, "to entice"); 引诱 (yǐn yòu, "to coerce (sb into doing sth bad)"); 诱饵 (yòu ěr, "bait"); 诱人 (yòu rén, "attractive"); 诱拐 (yòu guǎi, "to abduct"). There are over 24 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 诱 (yòu)?
Several characters share the pronunciation yòu: 优 (excellent), 由 (to follow), 邮 (post (office)), 油 (oil), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 诱 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 诱 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native 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.