腐

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decay; rotten

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HSK 3.0: Level 4
Old HSK: Level 5
Strokes: 14
Radical: 肉 +8
Structure: Upper-left enclosure 左上包
Traditional: 腐
Common rank: #1,102
Unicode: U+8150

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 腐 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

肉 meaning “meat” + 付 sound ( fù )

Components 广付肉

How to remember it

rotten · Heisig RSH #845

府 government office + 肉 meat

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 腐

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
流水不腐	liú shuǐ bù fǔ	flowing water does not rot
刀子嘴，豆腐心	dāo zi zuǐ , dòu fu xīn	(proverb) to have a sharp tongue but a soft heart
马尾穿豆腐，提不起来	mǎ wěi chuān dòu fu , tí bu qǐ lai	lit. like tofu strung on horsetail, you can't lift it; fig. let's not talk of this (pun on…
食腐动物	shí fǔ dòng wù	scavenger
心急吃不了热豆腐	xīn jí chī bu liǎo rè dòu fu	hasty men don't get to eat hot tofu (idiom); one just has to be patient; haste will ruin e…
鱼生火，肉生痰，青菜豆腐保平安	yú shēng huǒ , ròu shēng tán , qīng cài dòu fu bǎo píng ān	fish brings heat, meat brings phlegm, vegetables and tofu keep you healthy
雷公打豆腐	Léi Gōng dǎ dòu fu	the God of Thunder strikes bean curd; fig. to bully the weakest person; to pick on an easy…
腐生兰	fǔ shēng lán	Cymbidium macrorrhizum Lindl.
日本豆腐	Rì běn dòu fu	egg tofu (a Japanese egg-based delicacy with a smooth, silken texture similar to tofu)
家常豆腐	jiā cháng dòu fu	home-style tofu
豆腐花	dòu fu huā	jellied tofu; soft bean curd
腐国	Fǔ guó	UK (slang term reflecting a perception of UK as decadent for its attitudes toward homosexu…
腐化	fǔ huà	to rot; to decay; to become corrupt
豆腐皮	dòu fu pí	tofu skin (made by drying the skin that forms on the surface of soymilk during cooking, an…
血豆腐	xuè dòu fu	blood tofu (coagulated animal blood)
油豆腐	yóu dòu fu	fried tofu (cubes)
豆腐干	dòu fu gān	see 豆干[dou4 gan1]
切齿腐心	qiè chǐ fǔ xīn	to detest sth or sb to the utmost extreme (idiom)
反腐	fǎn fǔ	anti-corruption
吃豆腐	chī dòu fu	to take liberties with (a woman); to tease with sexual innuendo; to sexually harass; to ta…

Sound family

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

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
付 sound part	fù	give, deliver, pay, hand over; entrust
府	fǔ	prefect; prefecture, government
附	fù	nearby; to adhere to, to attach; to rely on
符	fú	amulet, charm; mark, tag; to correspond to
咐	fù	to instruct; to order
拊	fǔ	to pat, to slap, to tap; the handle of a vessel
鲋	fù	carp; Carassicus auratus
苻	fú	a kind of herb; Angelica anomala
跗	fū	arch, instep
驸	fù	extra horse; imperial son-in-law