羞 (xiū): shy; ashamed; embarrassed

Meanings

1 shy; ashamed; embarrassed
2 shame; humiliation

Characters

羞

xiū

shy; ashamed

Examples

HSK 5

别羞，大胆说出来。

Bié xiū, dàdǎn shuō chūlái.

Don't be shy, speak up boldly.

HSK 6

她羞得满脸通红。

Tā xiū de mǎnliǎn tōnghóng.

She blushed all over her face from embarrassment.

Tips

usage

羞 often appears in compounds: 害羞 (shy), 羞耻 (shame), 羞辱 (humiliate). On its own it is more literary.

memory

The character 羞 contains 羊 (sheep) on top - picture a bashful sheep hiding its face.

Components

radical

羊 yáng

sheep; goat

Sheep radical occupies the top, slightly stretched to fit. Originally 羞 depicted a hand 丑 offering a sheep - the act of presenting tribute. From there it took the meaning 'to feel ashamed' (the embarrassment of presenting/offering oneself), still preserved in 害羞 'shy' and 羞耻 'shame'.

phonetic

丑 chǒu

second earthly branch; ugly

Bottom element 丑 - historically a pictograph of a hand grasping. Here it both supplies the phonetic backbone (chǒu → xiū via Old-Chinese sound shift) and contributes 'hand' semantically: the hand that offers the sheep above.