How to Write 嘘 (xū) — Meaning “Shh / To hiss / To sigh”

Imagine someone at a library putting a finger to their lips and saying 'Shh!' — the left side 口 is their mouth, and the right side 虚 looks like a person with a raised finger (the top part) over an empty space (虚 means empty). This visual helps you recall the meaning 'shh' and the sound xū.

The character has 14 strokes. The left radical 口 should be small and positioned near the top-left, while the right side 虚 is larger and balanced. A common mistake is making the 口 too big or writing the right side's top strokes (户 related part) too wide; keep the entire character compact and vertical. Pay attention to the horizontal strokes inside 虚: the middle '七'-like part is written with a short horizontal stroke first.

Unlike 嘘 (which means 'shh' or 'hiss'), 㕡 (hè) is a rare character meaning a pit or hole, formed with 口 and 壑 (ravine), and is visually distinct with more strokes on the right. 啻 (chì) means 'only' or 'merely' and appears in classical phrases; its right side is 帝 (emperor), not 虚. Pay attention to the right-side component: 虚 (empty) for 嘘, 壑 for 㕡, and 帝 for 啻.

In modern Chinese, 嘘 is most commonly used as an interjection to shush someone, like saying 'Shh!' in English. It also appears in words such as 嘘声 (booing or hissing from a crowd) and 嘘寒问暖 (a polite idiom meaning to ask after someone's comfort, literally 'to hiss about cold and ask about warmth'). The character is informal and mainly appears in conversational contexts or onomatopoeia.

Common words containing 嘘 include: 嘘声 (xū shēng) — Hissing sound / Booing; 嘘寒问暖 (xū hán wèn nuǎn) — To inquire after someone's well-being / To show solicitous care; 嘘一声 (xū yī shēng) — To make a 'shh' sound / To hiss.