How to Write 猝 (cù) — Meaning “sudden; abrupt”

Imagine a dog (犭) suddenly jumping out at a soldier (卒) — the soldier is caught off guard by the abrupt attack. This picture of an unexpected encounter can help you recall that 猝 means 'sudden' or 'unexpected'.

Key points: the left radical 犭 has three strokes with a curved hook at the end, not a straight line. The right part 卒 is 8 strokes: start with a dot, then a horizontal, two dashes, and finally a long vertical through the center — do not confuse the vertical stroke with a single line; it must cross the bottom horizontal.

狊 (jú) means 'bright-eyed' and has 目 (eye) inside, not 卒. 狠 (hěn) means 'ruthless' or 'very' and uses 艮 (gèn) on the right; it is common in HSK. 猝 focuses on suddenness, while the others have unrelated meanings and different right-side components.

猝 appears in expressions like 猝死 (sudden death) and 猝不及防 (caught off guard), often in medical or emergency contexts. In Chinese culture, 猝然 (suddenly) is used in literature to describe unexpected events, but the character is not common in everyday conversation — it is more formal or written.

Common words containing 猝 include: 猝死 (cù sǐ) — sudden death; 猝不及防 (cù bù jí fáng) — caught off guard; taken by surprise; 猝然 (cù rán) — suddenly; unexpectedly.