How to Write 惙 (chuò) — Meaning “Sad”

Imagine a heart (忄) that is tied up with four ropes (the four stacked parts of 叕). This feeling of being bound makes you sad and anxious — just like the meaning of 惙.

When writing 惙, first draw the narrow heart radical on the left (dot, dot, vertical). Then on the right, carefully stack four similar components: each is like a small "又" shape, but the top one is slightly larger. A common mistake is to make the right side too wide or to miss one of the four parts.

All three have the heart radical, but 恂 (xún) means "sincere" or "fearful" and has 旬 on the right, while 恃 (shì) means "to rely on" and has 寺 on the right. 惙 specifically means "sad and anxious" and its right side is the stacked 叕, which you can see as four small hooks.

惙 is not common in everyday speech; it appears mainly in classical literature, poetry, or formal writing. You might see it in words like 惙惙 (chuò chuò, meaning anxious) or 忧惙 (yōu chuò, sad and worried), often describing deep emotional distress.

Common words containing 惙 include: 忧惙 (yōu chuò) — Sad and anxious; 惙惙 (chuò chuò) — Anxious; 惙然 (chuò rán) — sad and weary.