How to Write 牴 (dǐ) — Meaning “To butt / To conflict”

Imagine a cow (牛) standing with its head lowered and pushing hard against a wall (think of the right side 氐 as a person leaning forward). This image of the cow stubbornly butting shows both the action and the conflict meaning. The pinyin "dǐ" sounds like "dee"—picture the cow saying "Dee!" as it butts.

Write the left radical 牛 first (three strokes: slant, cross, vertical), then the right part 氐 (six strokes: left-falling, horizontal, left-falling, horizontal, slanted hook, dot). A common mistake is making the right part too wide or confusing the slanted hook with a vertical hook—keep it narrow so the character stays balanced. Also, the bottom dot on 氐 is often misplaced; it should sit neatly under the horizontal line.

Both 牴 and 牡 share the radical 牛, but 牴 has 氐 on the right (giving the meaning of butting/conflict) while 牡 has 士 (tǔ, scholar/ground) on the right, which indicates "male." 牴 connects to actions like pushing or disagreeing, while 牡 specifically refers to male animals (e.g., 牝牡). Also, 牠 (tā, it) uses the same radical but with 也, and is a general pronoun for animals, not related to butting or gender.

牴 is rarely used alone today, but it appears in formal or literary words like 抵触 (to conflict or contradict) and 抵牾 (to conflict or oppose). These terms are common in legal, political, or academic writing to describe disagreements. A cultural note: the word 牴牛 (dǐ niú) literally means "butting bull" and evokes the image of traditional bullfighting or stubbornness, though it is not a common everyday term.

Common words containing 牴 include: 抵触 (dǐ chù) — to conflict / to contradict; 牴牛 (dǐ niú) — A bull that butts; 抵牾 (dǐ wǔ) — To contradict / Conflict.