虚

虛
xū
adjective HSK 7-9 #7,826

Meanings

  1. 1 empty; void; hollow
  2. 2 humble; modest
  3. 3 false; unreal

Examples

HSK 4
Tā hěn xūxīn.
He is very humble.
HSK 7-9
Zhège gùshi shì xūgòu de.
This story is fictional.

Tips

usage
虚心 (humble), 虚假 (false), 虚构 (fictional), 谦虚 (modest).

Components

radical
虍 hū
tiger top (radical)
Top tiger-skin radical - upper portion of 虎, drawing the striped head and forelegs. As the indexing radical it puts 虚 in the tiger-canopy family with 虎 tiger, 虑 consider, 虐 cruel. The tiger top here also lends a sense of vast hollow space, like an empty den.
semantic
业 yè
business; here a graphic remnant
Bottom 业 - modern 5-stroke shape, but historically this slot held 丘 (mound). The simplification flattened the hill into the 业 silhouette. The original sense was a great empty mound, source of 虚's core meaning of emptiness and hollowness. Read as a graphic placeholder, not the standalone 'industry' meaning.

Stroke Order

虚 xū