优

Tap the pinyin to hear it

excellent; superior

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

亻 meaning “person” + 尤 sound ( yóu )

Components 亻尤

excellent · Heisig RSH #821

人 person + Frankenpooch

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
优生学	yōu shēng xué	eugenics
优游自得	yōu yóu zì dé	free and at leisure (idiom); unfettered
优尼科	Yōu ní kē	Unocal (US oil company)
资优生	zī yōu shēng	brilliant student
女士优先	nǚ shì yōu xiān	Ladies first!
优生	yōu shēng	outstanding student; to give birth to healthy babies (typically involving prenatal screeni…
优化	yōu huà	to optimize; (corporate euphemism) to lay off staff
优等生	yōu děng shēng	top student; outstanding student; standout performer
优点	yōu diǎn	merit; benefit; strong point; advantage; CL:個\|个[ge4],項\|项[xiang4]
名优	míng yōu	excellent quality; outstanding (product); abbr. for 名牌優質\|名牌优质; (old) famous actor or actre…
优美	yōu měi	graceful; fine; elegant
优格	yōu gé	(loanword) yogurt
优角	yōu jiǎo	reflex angle
全优	quán yōu	overall excellence
女优	nǚ yōu	(old) actress; adult film actress; AV actress
声优	shēng yōu	voice actor (orthographic borrowing from Japanese 声優 "seiyū")
资优班	zī yōu bān	(Tw) class composed of gifted students
优先级	yōu xiān jí	(computing) priority level; (computing) precedence (of operators)
负优化	fù yōu huà	to degrade the performance of a sold product via a system update
优游	yōu yóu	carefree; leisurely

Characters sharing the sound component 尤 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
尤 sound part	yóu	especially, particularly
忧	yōu	sad, grieving; melancholy, grief
犹	yóu	similar to, just like, as
扰	rǎo	to poke, to disturb, to annoy, to agitate
疣	yóu	wart, tumor, papule, goiter
鱿	yóu	cuttlefish