肤 (fū) is a Chinese character meaning “skin”. It is written from 月 (moon; month) and 夫 (man; husband), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “skin”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
月 + 夫
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（IDS ⿰月夫，已对照 hanzi-writer-data 8 笔核验：月 4 笔 + 夫 4 笔）
Memory aid
The body part 月 on the left, a man 夫 on the right — the outermost layer of a person you ever actually see. Both parts are really in this character, and 夫 (fū) also hands you the sound: fū.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 皮肤pí fūskin肤 = fū
- 肤色fū sèskin colour; complexion肤 = fū
- 肤浅fū qiǎnsuperficial; shallow (of understanding)肤 = fū
Go deeper
All readings
skin
skin; the surface of the body; (figuratively) surface-level, shallow
人体表面的皮；也引申指表面的、不深入的。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 皮肤pí fūskin肤 = fū
- 肤色fū sèskin colour; complexion肤 = fū
- 肤浅fū qiǎnsuperficial; shallow (of understanding)肤 = fū
Sound component
夫 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 肤 mean?
肤 (fū) means skin; the surface of the body; (figuratively) surface-level, shallow.
How do you pronounce 肤?
It is pronounced fū.
What parts is 肤 made of?
月 (moon; month) and 夫 (man; husband), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（IDS ⿰月夫，已对照 hanzi-writer-data 8 笔核验：月 4 笔 + 夫 4 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 肤 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 肤?
月. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 肤?
Common ones are 皮肤 and 肤色. The reading of 肤 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.