Dictionary › 后

后

hòu

Old HSK 1 HSK 3.0 character level 1 Character

后 (hòu) means "empress; queen; (archaic) monarch". It is an HSK 3.0 level 1 word, and was HSK 1 in the old six-level list.

What 后 means

1. empress
2. queen
3. archaicmonarch
4. ruler

Other readings

后 is 多音字 — it is read more than one way, and the reading changes the meaning.

• hòuback; behind; rear
• Hòusurname Hou

Example sentences

• 退后。
  Step back.
• 后退！
  Back off!
• 然后！
  And then!
• 往后站！
  Wǎnghòu zhàn!
  Stand back!
• 然后呢？
  And then?
• 之后呢？
  And afterward?

Words starting with 后

• 后面hòu mianthe back; the rear; the last bit; behind; near the end; at the back; later; afterwards
• 后来hòu láiafterwards; later; newly arrived
• 后悔hòu huǐto regret; to feel remorse
• 后果hòu guǒconsequences; aftermath
• 后代hòu dàidescendant; progeny; posterity; later ages; later generations
• 后勤hòu qínlogistics
• 后顾之忧hòu gù zhī yōufears of trouble in the rear (idiom); family worries (obstructing freedom of action)…
• 后者hòu zhěthe latter
• 后边hòu bianthe back; the rear; the last bit; behind; near the end; at the back; later; afterwards
• 后期hòu qīlate stage; later period
• 后人hòu rénlater generation
• 后门hòu ménback door; back gate; (fig.) back-door influence; under-the-table dealings; anus
• 后天hòu tiānthe day after tomorrow; life after birth…
• 后退hòu tuìto recoil; to draw back; to fall back; to retreat
• 后背hòu bèithe back (human anatomy); the back part of sth
• 后台hòu táibackstage area; behind-the-scenes supporter; (computing) back-end
• 后方hòu fāngthe rear; far behind the front line
• 后院hòu yuànrear court; back garden; backyard (also fig.)
• 后头hòu toubehind; the back; the rear
• 后座hòu zuòempress's throne; (fig.) first place in a women's competition
• 后记hòu jìepilogue; afterword
• 后世hòu shìlater generations
• 后卫hòu wèirear guard; backfield; fullback
• 后排hòu páithe back row (in a theater etc); the rear seats (in a vehicle)

Words containing 后

• 然后rán hòuthen; after that; afterwards
• 最后zuì hòufinal; last; ultimate; finally; in the end
• 以后yǐ hòuafter; later; afterwards
• 之后zhī hòuafter; behind; (at the beginning of a sentence) afterwards; since then
• 落后luò hòuto fall behind; to lag (in technology etc); backward
• 皇后huáng hòuempress; imperial consort
• 争先恐后zhēng xiān kǒng hòu(idiom) to compete to be first; to scramble to get ahead…
• 空前绝后kōng qián jué hòuunprecedented and never to be duplicated; the first and the last; unmatched
• 背后bèi hòubehind; at the back; in the rear
• 身后shēn hòuthe time after one's death; a place behind sb; (fig.) one's social background
• 随后suí hòuafterward; later; subsequently; following that
• 今后jīn hòuhereafter; henceforth; in the future
• 先后xiān hòuearly or late; first and last; priority; in succession; one after another
• 前后qián hòuaround; from beginning to end; all around
• 过后guò hòuafter the event
• 此后cǐ hòuafter this; afterwards; hereafter
• 事后shì hòuafter the event; in hindsight; in retrospect
• 而后ér hòuafter that; then
• 往后wǎng hòufrom now on; in the future; time to come
• 日后rì hòusometime; someday (in the future)
• 死后sǐ hòuafter death; posthumous
• 其后qí hòunext; later; after that
• 午后wǔ hòuafternoon
• 战后zhàn hòuafter the war; postwar

Characters that look like 后

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 应yīngto agree (to do sth); should; ought to
• 册cèbook; booklet; classifier for books
• 启qǐto open; to start; to initiate
• 右yòu(bound form) right; right-hand side; (bound form) (politics) right of center…
• 厉lìstrict; severe
• 纺fǎngto spin (cotton or hemp etc); fine woven silk fabric

Sounds the same

Read hòu, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 候to wait; to inquire after; to watch
• 厚thick; deep or profound; kind
• 侯used in 闽侯
• 逅used in 邂逅
• 鲎horseshoe crab
• 堠mounds for beacons
• 垕thick
• 豞grunting of pigs
• 鄇place name
• 郈surname Hou; place name
• 鲘see 鳠

Where 后 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of HSK 1 Characters · Set 7 (HSK 1), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 1 word, with the rest of its level.
• How characters are built from components.
• How to learn Chinese characters.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read hòu correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.