俯 (fǔ): to look down at

Meanings

1 to look down at
2 to stoop
3 to bend over
4 to condescend

Characters

俯

fǔ

to look down, to stoop

Examples

HSK 6

他俯身捡起地上的钱包。

Tā fǔshēn jiǎn qǐ dìshàng de qiánbāo.

He bent down to pick up the wallet on the ground.

HSK 7-9

站在山顶，可以俯瞰整座城市。

Zhàn zài shāndǐng, kěyǐ fǔkàn zhěng zuò chéngshì.

Standing at the mountain top, you can look down over the entire city.

Tips

usage

俯 is commonly seen in compound verbs: 俯瞰 (to overlook/look down at), 俯视 (to look down at), 俯卧 (to lie face down). The opposite direction verb is 仰 (to look upward).

Components

radical

亻 rén

person (radical form of 人)

Left person radical (side-form of 人, Kangxi #9), a standing figure shown from the side. Anchors 俯 in the body-posture family with 仰 (look up), 倒 (fall over), 卧 (lie down), 立 (stand), 坐 (sit). The radical tells the reader the character names a position or action of the human body.

phonetic

府 fǔ

government office; mansion

Right 府 supplies the sound, fǔ unchanged. 府 itself depicts a building with stored goods (广 plus 付), originally the treasury; here the meaning doesn't carry. Pure phonetic. Same phonetic gives 腑 (bowels), 腐 (rot). The pair 俯仰 'bow and look up' captures the full vertical range of head motion.