Better Korean Dictionary
All word comparisons

수 vs 숫자

“number”: 수 or 숫자?

Source-verified September 7, 2026. AI-assisted and checked against NIKL dictionary sources.

The quick answer

수 is the value. 숫자 can be the written digit.

수

A numerical value or count.

그 사전에 수록된 어휘의 수는 40만이다.
The number of entries in that dictionary is 400,000.

숫자

A written digit, numerical figure, or count.

출입문에는 숫자 2가 적혀 있었다.
The number 2 was written on the entrance door.

One useful caveat

숫자 is not limited to written digits.

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Sources and method

Separate grounding and adversarial checks must pass before a guide is published. These guides are not human-reviewed.

Source examples are adapted from the National Institute of Korean Language's Korean-English Learners' Dictionary under its Attribution-ShareAlike terms.

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