How to Write 蹉 (cuō) — Meaning “To slip; to miss an opportunity”

Imagine a foot (足) stepping on a banana peel and slipping (差 looks like a crossed path, meaning wrong). The sound "cuō" can be linked to "tso" as in "tso bad" — you messed up and missed your chance.

Write the left part 足 first (7 strokes), then the right part 差 (9 strokes). A common mistake is making the right part too wide or mixing up the strokes in 差 — note that the top is like 羊 without the last horizontal, and a vertical stroke goes through both sections. Keep the left and right balanced, with the foot slightly narrower.

蹉 (cuō) means to slip or waste time, and its right side is 差. 䠀 (tǎng) is a rare character meaning to step or walk, while 跽 (jì) means to kneel, with the right side 忌. Visually, 蹉 and 跽 both have the foot radical, but their right halves are completely different, and their meanings are unrelated.

蹉 is rarely used alone; it appears in the literary expression 蹉跎 (cuō tuó), meaning to waste time or let time slip by, as in the idiom 蹉跎岁月. This phrase is often used in regretful or reflective contexts, such as poems or formal writing, not in daily conversation. It carries a cultural sense of lamenting lost opportunities.

Common words containing 蹉 include: 蹉跎 (cuō tuó) — To waste time; to let time slip by; 岁月 (suì yuè) — Years / Time; 蹉跌 (cuō diē) — To stumble; to fail.