虚
Spell out: + =
emptiness; void; abstract theory or guiding principles; empty or unoccupied; diffident or timid; false; humble or modest; (of health) weak; virtual; in vain
11 strokes
Dict coverage rank #684 U+865A
How 虚 is formed
Ideographic compound (会意字)
A tiger 虍 stalking in the bushes 业
How to remember it
false · Heisig RSH #1461
虎 tiger + 业 profession
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Characters built with 虚 as their sound component
These characters all use 虚 (xū) as their phonetic component — compare how they read:
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 虚 sound component | xū | false; worthless, hollow, empty; vain |
| 觑 | qù | to peep, to watch, to spy on |
| 嘘 | xū | to blow, to exhale, to hiss, to sigh; to praise |
| 墟 | xū | high mound; hilly countryside; wasteland |
| 歔 | xū | to snort, to blow through the nose |
| 魖 | xū | black |
Words containing 虚
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 虚无主义 | xū wú zhǔ yì | nihilism |
| 虚心好学 | xū xīn hào xué | modest and studious (idiom) |
| 名不虚传 | míng bù xū chuán | (idiom) to live up to one's famous name; its reputation is well deserved |
| 所言不虚 | suǒ yán bù xū | see 所言非虛|所言非虚[suo3 yan2 fei1 xu1] |
| 虚电路 | xū diàn lù | virtual circuit; VC |
| 子虚乌有 | zǐ xū wū yǒu | (idiom) to have no basis in fact; to be the product of sb's imagination |
| 虚头巴脑 | xū tóu bā nǎo | (coll.) all show and no substance |
| 眼见为实，耳听为虚 | yǎn jiàn wéi shí , ěr tīng wéi xū | see 耳聽為虛，眼見為實|耳听为虚，眼见为实[er3 ting1 wei2 xu1 , yan3 jian4 wei2 shi2] |
| 耳听为虚，眼见为实 | ěr tīng wéi xū , yǎn jiàn wéi shí | (idiom) what one hears may be unreliable, but what one sees is true; seeing is believing |
| 交换虚电路 | jiāo huàn xū diàn lù | Switched Virtual Circuit; SVC |
| 虚头 | xū tóu | to play tricks; to deceive |
| 心虚 | xīn xū | lacking in confidence; diffident; to have a guilty conscience |
| 虚心 | xū xīn | open-minded; humble |
| 虚无 | xū wú | nothingness |
| 虚情假意 | xū qíng jiǎ yì | false friendship; hypocritical show of affection |
| 以虚带实 | yǐ xū dài shí | (idiom) to use the abstract to guide the concrete |
| 虚应了事 | xū yìng liǎo shì | see 虛應故事|虚应故事[xu1 ying4 gu4 shi4] |
| 所言非虚 | suǒ yán fēi xū | (after a pronoun or name) what (you, they etc) say is true |
| 气虚 | qì xū | deficiency of 氣|气[qi4] (TCM) |
| 发虚 | fā xū | to feel weak; to be diffident |