服

2 readings · tap one to hear it

clothes; dress; garment; to serve (in the military, a prison sentence etc); to obey; to be convinced (by an argument); to convince; to admire; to acclimatize; to take (medicine); mourning clothes; to wear mourning clothes

Make a writing worksheet

HSK 3.0: Level 1
Old HSK: Level 1
Strokes: 8
Radical: 月 +4
Structure: Left–right 左右
Traditional: 服
Common rank: #374
Unicode: U+670D

Sound it out + = · + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 服 is formed

Ideographic compound (会意字)

A person 卩 putting on 又 a coat 月

Components 月卩又

How to remember it

apparel · Heisig RSH #1103

flesh + stamp + crotch

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 服

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
衣服	yī fu	clothes; CL:件[jian4],套[tao4]
中山服	zhōng shān fú	Chinese tunic suit; Mao jacket; CL:件[jian4]
马服子	Mǎ Fú zǐ	Ma Fuzi (-260 BC), hapless general of Zhao 趙國\|赵国[Zhao4 Guo2], who famously led an army of …
不服气	bù fú qì	unwilling to concede; defiant; indignant; to find it galling
水手服	shuǐ shǒu fú	Japanese sailor-style schoolgirl uniform; sailor fuku
不服水土	bù fú shuǐ tǔ	(of a stranger) not accustomed to the climate of a new place; not acclimatized
水土不服	shuǐ tǔ bù fú	not acclimatized
不服	bù fú	not to accept sth; to want to have sth overruled or changed; to refuse to obey or comply; …
工作服	gōng zuò fú	work clothes; workwear
国服	guó fú	national dress; traditional attire; (Internet gaming) domestic gaming server; (esp.) Chine…
心服	xīn fú	to accept wholeheartedly; to embrace; to be won over
运动服	yùn dòng fú	sportswear
口服心服	kǒu fú xīn fú	see 心服口服[xin1 fu2 kou3 fu2]
心服口服	xīn fú kǒu fú	(idiom) to accept wholeheartedly; to embrace; to be won over
服气	fú qì	to be convinced; to accept
克服	kè fú	(try to) overcome (hardships etc); to conquer; to put up with; to endure
西服	xī fú	suit; Western-style clothes (historical usage)
为人民服务	wèi rén mín fú wù	Serve the People!, CCP political slogan
服法	fú fǎ	to submit to the law; to obey the law; administration method (of medicine)
法服	fǎ fú	see 法衣[fa3 yi1]

Sound family

These characters use 服 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
服 sound part	fú	clothes; to dress, to wear; to take medicine
菔	fú	turnip