愚

yú

心 + 禺

Definitions

yú (adjective) stupid; foolish

yú (verb) to deceive; to cheat

yú (pronoun) I; me (humble)

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 禺 represents the sound.

Semantic: 心 Phonetic: 禺

About

愚 is a phono-semantic compound combining the heart/mind radical 心 (xīn) below and the phonetic 禺 (yú) above. It denotes stupidity, foolishness, or slow-wittedness, a lack of intelligence, wisdom, or common sense, and often describes foolish actions or ignorant people. In classical Chinese, it also served as a humble first-person pronoun, with writers referring to themselves as "this foolish one" to show respect.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Late Warring States (~250 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

他非常愚蠢。

Tā fēicháng yúchǔn.

He is very foolish.

不要愚弄别人。

Bùyào yúnòng biérén.

Don't fool others.

愚昧导致错误。

Yúmèi dǎozhì cuòwù.

Ignorance leads to mistakes.

愚人节那天很有趣。

Yúrénjié nà tiān hěn yǒuqù.

April Fools' Day is very interesting.

他的愚见值得考虑。

Tā de yújiàn zhídé kǎolǜ.

His humble opinion is worth considering.

愚蠢的行为往往带来麻烦。

Yúchǔn de xíngwéi wǎngwǎng dàilái máfan.

Foolish actions often bring trouble.

如果你不学习，就会变得愚昧。

Rúguǒ nǐ bù xuéxí, jiù huì biàn de yúmèi.

If you don't study, you will become ignorant.

尽管他有时显得愚蠢，但他的心地非常善良。

Jǐnguǎn tā yǒushí xiǎnde yúchǔn, dàn tā de xīndì fēicháng shànliáng.

Although he sometimes appears foolish, his heart is very kind.

Related Characters

Component: 心

Component: 禺

愚