How to Write 吠 (fèi) — Meaning “to bark”

Imagine a dog (犬) opening its mouth (口) to let out a loud "woof!" — that is 吠, to bark. You can also think of the word "feed" (sounds like fèi) but a dog barks when you feed it.

Write the left 口 small and slightly high, then the right 犬 with the correct diagonal stroke (a hook at the end). A common mistake is making the 犬 too wide or forgetting the dot in 犬.

Both 卟 (bǔ, divination) and 古 (gǔ, ancient) have the same left side 口, but their right parts are different: 卟 has 卜 (divination) and 古 has 十 (ten). Only 吠 contains 犬 (dog), giving it the meaning "to bark."

吠 is used in formal or literary contexts to describe dog barking, as in 狂吠 (furious barking) or 吠叫 (to bark). It is not common in everyday speech — you would usually hear 叫 instead. In Chinese culture, 吠 sometimes appears in idioms about noisy or aggressive behavior.

Common words containing 吠 include: 吠叫 (fèi jiào) — to bark / barking; 狂吠 (kuáng fèi) — To bark furiously.; 吠声 (fèi shēng) — the sound of barking.