adjective #21,300

Meanings

  1. 1 hard; strong; solid; firm
  2. 2 sure; certainly; of course

Examples

Zhè zuò qiáo hěn jiāngù.
This bridge is very sturdy.
Gùdìng hǎo zhège jiàzi.
Secure this shelf properly.
Tā gùzhíjǐjiàn.
He stubbornly sticks to his own opinion.

Tips

usage
坚固 = sturdy. 固定 = fixed / to fix. 固执 = stubborn. 牢固 = firm.

Components

radical
wéi
enclosure; border
Outer enclosure radical - the big square wraps everything in, written as the first two strokes (top-left descender and top + right side) and closed on the last stroke. The indexing radical. The bigger is distinct from the smaller (mouth) it visually resembles. Same family: (country), (garden), (trapped), (surround).
phonetic
old; ancient
Inside supplies the sound - gǔ drifting to gù through tone shift. Helpfully, means 'old, ancient' - so reads as 'enclosed and old,' i.e. firmly established by time. The phonetic doubles as a semantic clue for the 'firm, solid, sure, established' meanings. Sealed walls plus age give a picture of unshakeable stability.

Stroke Order