好

Cantonese · source Jyutpinghou2#

Meanings · hou2

  1. good
  2. well
  3. proper
  4. good to
  5. easy to
  6. very
  7. so
  8. (suffix indicating completion or readiness)
  9. fine
  10. friendly
  11. kind
  12. amicable
  13. healthy
  14. in good condition
  15. ready
  16. done
  17. okay
  18. all right
  19. (of an unmarried couple) to be close
  20. to be keen on each other
  21. to get well
  22. to recover from an illness
  23. convenient to
  24. (added before a verb) should do something as soon as possible
  25. sure, a way to acknowledge
  26. accept what someone else has said
Cantonese · source Jyutpinghou3#

Meanings · hou3

  1. to like
  2. to love
  3. to be fond of
  4. to be liable to
  5. to be likely to
About these definitions

Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.

Full entryShow on map

Reading & tones

Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.

Same syllable, six tones

Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.

Explore words with this reading ↗

Written characters

Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.

Cantonese characters and the Mandarin bridge ↗

Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:

  • 好 hǎo CC-CEDICT · Mandaringood; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (of two people) close; on intimate terms; …
  • 好 hào CC-CEDICT · Mandarinto be fond of; to have a tendency to; to be prone to

A separate source entry, shown for comparison. The same characters can carry different senses in Mandarin and in Cantonese; zimai does not align these senses.

CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: hao3. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 31 senses · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hou2 · hou3

Cantonese word readings for 好. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character

  1. good; well
  2. Used as an interjection. — good; very well; nice
  3. Used as an interjection. — OK; alright
  4. Used as an interjection. — fine
  5. Used as an interjection. — (Hokkien) yes; yeah; aye
  6. Particle denoting agreement, support or wish to terminate a conversation.
  7. Particle denoting dissatisfaction in ironical sentences.
  8. (Hokkien) Particle denoting that the listener is still listening or is still interested with what the speaker is saying. (backchanneling cue)
  9. friendly; close; acquainted; kind
  10. (specifically) to start dating; to become romantic partners
  11. done; ready; finished; complete
  12. to be good to; easy to
  13. (making it) convenient; easy for
  14. (Hokkien) merit; benefit; advantage
  15. to recover from an illness; to heal; to get better
  16. very; quite; rather; so
  17. a pleasure to (do something); good for (doing something)
  18. (after a verb) properly; carefully
  19. Particle used after verbs to denote the completion or near-completion of an action.
  20. Used after a noun or pronoun as a greeting.
  21. greeting
  22. such; what
  23. (dialectal) can
  24. (Cantonese, Hakka) should
  25. (Southwestern Mandarin, Xiang) how (to what degree)
  26. (rail transport) cleared

character

  1. to be fond of; to like
  2. to have a tendency to; to be prone to; good to; easy to
  3. (dialectal Mandarin, Wu) can; to be able to
  4. (Teochew) to be willing to
  5. a surname

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

CC-Canto · Pleco Inc. · edition 2017-02-02
Source lines 27,231, 27,232 · Original publisher · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Edition & transformations

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Mandarin comparison: CC-CEDICT 2026-10-13, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source reading differences and six-tone sets: computed by zimai from Unihan 17.0.0 (Unicode License V3).

Exact source records & identity好 好 [hao3] {hou2} /good/well/proper/good to/easy to/very/so/(suffix indicating completion or readiness)/fine/friendly/kind/amicable/healthy/in good condition/ready/done/okay/all right/(of an unmarried couple) to be close/to be keen on each other/to get well/to recover from an illness/convenient to/(added before a verb) should do something as soon as possible/sure, a way to acknowledge / accept what someone else has said/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: 40185b46560808dad84579cc3bc8273ece61137c51e801eadcf4335d907bb9a4

好 好 [hao3] {hou3} /to like/to love/to be fond of/to be liable to/to be likely to/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: 4e9e45ca43db2a9b516fc7464022a8495c6bdea82e52e61218ceb422a529e6b4