How to Write 角 (jiǎo/jué) — Meaning “angle; corner; horn”

Picture a cow's horn that looks like the corner of a room. The top part of 角 has two pointed strokes like a horn tip, and the bottom is a square base like a corner. This visual connects the character to both a horn and a corner.

Start with the top left stroke: a short left-falling stroke (丿), then a horizontal stroke (一), then another left-falling stroke (丿) crossing down, followed by a horizontal fold (𠃌), and finally two vertical strokes inside. A common mistake is forgetting the first short horizontal stroke before the second left-falling stroke.

角落 (jiǎo luò) means a physical corner, like in 'the corner of a room.' 直角 (zhí jiǎo) means 'right angle' in geometry. 角色 (jué sè) means 'role' or 'character' in a play or movie, and note the pronunciation changes to jué.

You see 角 in daily words for corners (e.g., street corners), geometric angles, and animal horns. It also appears in the idiom 拐弯抹角 (guǎi wān mò jiǎo), meaning 'beating around the bush,' used when someone speaks indirectly.

Common words containing 角 include: 角落 (jiǎo luò) — corner; 直角 (zhí jiǎo) — Right angle.; 角色 (jué sè) — role; character.