喻 (yù): to describe sth as, an analogy, a simile

喻 (yù) is a Chinese character meaning “to describe sth as.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (semantic) and 俞 (phonetic). It ranks #2217 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 喻 mouth. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to describe sth as
  2. an analogy
  3. a simile

Etymology & Origin

喻

pictophoneticmouth

Decomposition: ⿰口俞 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

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

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 喻

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
比喻verb/nounbǐ yùto compare5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
不可理喻phrasebù kě lǐ yù(idiom) impervious to reason
隐喻nounyǐn yùmetaphor
家喻户晓phrasejiā yù hù xiǎounderstood by everyone (idiom)
暗喻nounàn yùmetaphor
不言而喻phrasebù yán ér yù(idiom) it goes without saying
明喻nounmíng yùsimile
不可言喻phrasebù kě yán yùinexpressible (idiom)
喻世明言yù shì míng yánanother name for 古今小說|古今小说, Stories Old and New by Feng Menglong 馮夢龍|冯梦龙
提喻法nountí yù fǎsynecdoche
比喻义nounbǐ yù yìfigurative meaning (of a word)
借古喻今phrasejiè gǔ yù jīnto borrow the past as a model for the present
自喻zì yùto refer to oneself as
理喻verblǐ yùto reason with sb
言喻verbyán yùto describe
风喻fēng yùsee 諷喻|讽喻
23
Total compounds
4
As first character
78
As last character
17
As middle character

喻 appears in 23 compound words: 4 as the first character, 78 as the last, and 17 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 喻 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

譬pì
0.6321,130 co-occurrences
隐yǐn
0.5181,547 co-occurrences
晓xiǎo
0.500870 co-occurrences
比bǐ
0.4897,618 co-occurrences
钧jūn
0.448194 co-occurrences
兆zhào
0.424446 co-occurrences
暗àn
0.422876 co-occurrences
户hù
0.409840 co-occurrences
讽fěng
0.402104 co-occurrences
藻zǎo
0.396166 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (6)

不可理喻bùkělǐyùHSK 5+

to defy reason; to be unreasonable because of stupidity or stubbornness

phrase
不可言喻bùkěyányùHSK 5+

to be unable to be put into words

phrase
不言而喻bùyán'éryùHSK 5+

to go without saying; to be self-evident

phrase
家喻户晓jiāyùhùxiǎoHSK 7+

known to every household; ubiquitously known; widespread; extremely well-known

phrase
借古喻今jiègǔyùjīnHSK 5+

to allude to present events or figures by referencing historical events or figures

phrase
喻世明言yù shì míng yánHSK 5+

another name for 古今小說|古今小说, Stories Old and New by Feng Menglong 馮夢龍|冯梦龙

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

请喻下这杯茶,解解渴再继续工作。

qǐng yù xià zhè bēi chá , xiè xiè kě zài jì xù gōng zuò .

Please pour yourself a cup of tea to quench your thirst before continuing your work.

爱范儿Aug 2026

对山路、断头路和非铺装道路上的倒车场景来说,这颗后向雷达的重要性不言而喻。

duì shān lù , duàn tóu lù hé fēi pù zhuāng dào lù shàng de dǎo chē chǎng jǐng lái shuō , zhè kē hòu xiàng léi dá de chóng yāo xìng bù yán ér yù .

For reversing maneuvers on mountain roads, dead-end streets, and unpaved roads, the importance of this rear-facing radar is self-evident.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

上话艺术总监喻荣军的多部原创剧本以这样的方式实现跨语言、跨文化的传播。

shàng huà yì shù zǒng jiān yù róng jūn de duō bù yuán chuàng jù běn yǐ zhè yàng de fāng shì shí xiàn kuà yǔ yán , kuà wén huà de chuán bō .

Many of the original plays written by Yu Rongjun, Artistic Director of the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, have achieved cross-linguistic and cross-cultural dissemination in this way.

UdnnewsindexApr 2026

奉天宫头香得主捧交趾陶还愿 隐喻5月婚事马到成功

fèng tiān gōng tóu xiāng dé zhǔ pěng jiāo zhǐ táo hái yuàn yǐn yù 5 yuè hūn shì mǎ dào chéng gōng

The recipient of the first incense offering at Fengtian Palace presents a piece of Cochinware as a votive offering, symbolizing that their May wedding will be a resounding success

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...宪出线宜兰县长蓝白怎么合?陈琬惠经典赛妙喻:不影响晋级决心

. . . xiàn chū xiàn yí lán xiàn cháng lán bái zěn má gě ? chén 琬 huì jīng diǎn sài miào yù : bù yǐng xiǎng jìn jí jué xīn

... How to match the blue and white of Yilan County? Chen Wanhui's classic metaphor: does not affect the determination to advance

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

Tatoeba

她的悲伤无法言喻。

Tā de bēishāng wúfǎ yányù.

No words can express her deep sorrow.

Tatoeba

莎士比亚把世界比喻成一个舞台。

Shāshìbǐyà bǎ shìjiè bǐyù chéng yī gè wǔtái.

Shakespeare compared the world to a stage.

Tatoeba

在中国,人们常把有能力的人喻为“千里马”。

Zài Zhōngguó, rénmen cháng bǎ yǒunénglì de rén yù wèi "qiānlǐmǎ ".

In China, talented people are often described as "ten thousand mile horses".

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 口 (mouth) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced yù

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 喻 (yù) mean in Chinese?
喻 (yù) primarily means "to describe sth as." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #2217 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 喻 and 输?
喻 (yù) and 输 (shū) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 口 vs 车 (same 俞 component).
How many strokes does 喻 have?
喻 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 喻?
The radical associated with 喻 is 口 (mouth). This radical appears in many characters related to mouth.
What are the components of 喻?
喻 is composed of: 口 (semantic), 俞 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰口俞 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 喻?
Common words with 喻 include: 比喻 (bǐ yù, "to compare"); 不可理喻 (bù kě lǐ yù, "(idiom) impervious to reason"); 隐喻 (yǐn yù, "metaphor"); 家喻户晓 (jiā yù hù xiǎo, "understood by everyone (idiom)"); 暗喻 (àn yù, "metaphor"). There are over 23 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 喻 (yù)?
Several characters share the pronunciation yù: 愈 (the more...(the more...)), 于 ((of time or place) in), 与 (and), 语 (language). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 喻 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 喻 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 喻 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.