优yōu

优

Hover to feel · click to explore

Simplified · Today

简体

Simplified Chinese

Simplified form 优 (yōu, "excellent") was created by streamlining the traditional 優, which originally referred to actors or performers in ancient times and later evolved to mean outstanding or superior. The character combines the person radical 亻 with 尤 (meaning "especially" or "particularly"), suggesting a person who stands out from the crowd. This elegant simplification preserves the visual logic of the original while reducing its stroke count dramatically.

← → navigate · swipe on mobile

Shuowen

优, in oracle bone script, is composed of the human radical 亻 combined with the phonetic element 尤, which originally pictured a hand with a dot indicating a blemish. The combination suggested a person standing out from the ordinary, hence the sense of being superior. Thus the character came to denote “excellent” or “outstanding”.

Pinyin

yōu· HSK 2

优yōu

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin