DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

虛火

简虚火 · 繁虛火

Mandarin · pinyin xū huǒ

excess of internal heat due to poor general condition (TCM)
the prestige of another person, which one borrows for oneself

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

虛: Look up this written character
火: huǒ · fire, flame; burn; anger, rage
虚: xū · false

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–3 · xu1 huo3

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

3character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

虛火 · find source passages ↗ · 虚火 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

heoi1 fo2

Cantonese word readings for 虛火. 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.

noun

(traditional Chinese medicine) excessive internal heat due to poor health

verb

(Sichuanese) to be afraid; to be scared; to be frightened

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

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