How to Write 艴 (fú) — Meaning “angry look; flushed with anger”

Imagine someone is so angry that their face turns the color of a flushed peach. The left side 弗 sounds like 'fume' (as in fuming with rage), and the right side 色 means 'color' — together they suggest an angry facial color.

The left component 弗 has a balanced structure: write the horizontal strokes first, then the vertical hook, and finally the two shorter strokes inside. The right side 色 should be slightly narrower than 弗, and the bottom part (巴) must be written with a smooth curve. A common mistake is making the right side too wide, which disrupts the overall proportion.

Both characters share the right component 色, but their left sides differ: 艴 uses 弗 (a phonetic element), while 艳 uses 丰 (meaning 'abundant'). Visually, 艴 looks more angular and compact, whereas 艳 is wider and associated with 'colorful' or 'gorgeous' rather than anger.

艴 is a classical character rarely used in everyday speech; it appears mainly in literary or formal writing, such as the idiom 艴然不悦 (fú rán bù yuè, meaning 'to be displeased and show it'). You might encounter it in historical novels or poetic descriptions of anger, but it is not part of the HSK vocabulary.

Common words containing 艴 include: 艴然 (fú rán) — angrily; in a huff; 艴色 (fú sè) — angry expression; 艴如 (fú rú) — looking angry.