丑
Tap the pinyin to hear it
clown; 2nd earthly branch: 1-3 a.m., 12th solar month (6th January to 3rd February), year of the Ox; ancient Chinese compass point: 30°
- HSK 3.0
- Level 5
- Old HSK
- Level 5
- Strokes
- 4
- Radical
- 一 +3
- Structure
- Overlaid 叠加
- Traditional
- 丑
- Common rank
- #1,449
- Unicode
- U+4E11
Sound it out + =
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
Words with 丑
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 家丑不可外传 | lit. family shames must not be spread abroad (idiom); fig. don't wash your dirty linen in … | |
| 丑话说在前头 | let's talk about the unpleasant things first; let's be frank | |
| 家丑不可外扬 | lit. family shames must not be spread abroad (idiom); fig. don't wash your dirty linen in … | |
| 丑人多作怪 | (saying) unattractive or untalented people tend to make spectacles of themselves | |
| 奇丑无比 | extremely ugly; incomparably hideous | |
| 小丑鱼 | clownfish; anemonefish | |
| 丑妻近地家中宝 | an ugly wife is a treasure at home (idiom) | |
| 子不嫌母丑，狗不嫌家贫 | see 兒不嫌母醜，狗不嫌家貧|儿不嫌母丑，狗不嫌家贫[er2 bu4 xian2 mu3 chou3 , gou3 bu4 xian2 jia1 pin2] | |
| 儿不嫌母丑，狗不嫌家贫 | a son won't abandon his mother for being ugly, just as a dog won't abandon its owner for b… | |
| 子丑 | first two of the twelve earthly branches 十二地支; by ext., the earthly branches | |
| 丑国 | (slang) United States; USA; US | |
| 小丑 | clown | |
| 家丑 | family scandal; skeleton in the closet | |
| 丑化 | to defame; to libel; to defile; to smear; to vilify | |
| 丑行 | scandal | |
| 出丑 | to make a fool of oneself | |
| 丑事 | scandal | |
| 丑时 | 1-3 am (in the system of two-hour subdivisions used in former times) | |
| 丑相 | ugly expression; unsightly manners | |
| 丑角 | clown role in opera; clown; buffoon |
Sound family
These characters use 丑 as their sound component — compare how they read.