shū
adjective #12,449

Meanings

  1. 1 to stretch; to unfold
  2. 2 comfortable; leisurely
  3. 3 to relax

Examples

Zhège shāfā hěn shūfu.
This sofa is very comfortable.
Shūzhǎn yíxià shēntǐ ba.
Stretch your body a bit.
Xīnqíng hěn shūchàng.
In a relaxed and happy mood.

Tips

usage
is mainly used in compounds: 舒服 (comfortable), 舒适 (cozy), 舒展 (stretch out), 舒畅 (carefree). Also a common Chinese surname.

Components

semantic
shě
to give up; lodge
Left side means 'to release; to set aside; a dwelling.' The releasing sense feeds straight into — to stretch out, to unwind. The whole char is filed under Kangxi #135 (shé) by tradition, taken from the lower portion of , though no independent -element separates cleanly here.
phonetic
to give
Right side supplies a phonetic clue (the shū reading drifted from yǔ) and also a semantic boost — 'to give' pairs with 'to release' on the left, doubling the unclenching image. The full graph reads as 'letting go and handing over', the source of 'to stretch; comfortable'.

Filed under radical (shé, #135) by convention. is not a separate component in , so no strokes are highlighted.

Stroke Order

shū