丑 chǒu ugly
ugly; shameful; clown; disgraceful
How it came to be
A clawed hand, the fingers bent and gripping. It was borrowed for the second of the twelve branches, the ox. The clown came much later, when the character for ugly merged into it.
How it is used
- Adjective "ugly" describing appearance - blunt enough that calling a person 丑 directly can sound rude; softer phrasing like 不好看 is used to be polite.
- Extends to "shameful, disgraceful": 丢丑/出丑 (diūchǒu/chūchǒu, to make a fool of oneself, lose face) and 丑闻 (chǒuwén, scandal).
- 小丑 (xiǎochǒu) means clown, from the old theatrical role of the comic/clown character.