拂 (fú): to flick

Meanings

1 to flick
2 to brush off
3 to brush lightly over

Characters

拂

fú

to flick; to brush

Examples

HSK 7-9

微风拂过她的脸颊。

Wēifēng fú guò tā de liánjiá.

A gentle breeze brushed over her cheek.

HSK 7-9

她拂去桌上的灰尘。

Tā fú qù zhuō shàng de huīchén.

She brushed the dust off the table.

Tips

usage

拂 often describes light, gentle motions - a breeze brushing past, or wiping something away with a light touch.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Hand radical on the left - the indexing radical, anchoring 拂 in the family of hand verbs. Flicking dust off a sleeve or brushing a hand across a surface are both whole-arm motions, exactly the territory this radical owns. Same family: 推 (push), 拍 (pat), 抚 (stroke), 拭 (wipe).

phonetic

弗 fú

not; deny

Right side 弗 supplies the sound fú directly. 弗 originally pictured two crossed sticks lashed straight - a 'no, undo' marker - which adds a small semantic echo: a flick is a gesture of rejection, brushing something away. Same phonetic anchors 沸 (boil over), 佛 (Buddha, via Buddhist transliteration), 费 (expend).