How to Write 拮 (jié) — Meaning “hard up; short of money”

Imagine a hand (扌) trying to grab money but only finding a lucky penny (吉) — you are still short of cash. This visual reminds you that 拮 means being financially tight or hard up.

Write the left radical 扌 first (stroke order: horizontal, vertical, hook), then the right part 吉 (horizontal, vertical, horizontal, vertical, horizontal fold, horizontal). A common mistake is writing the top of 吉 as 土 instead of 士 — remember it looks like a scholar, not earth. Keep the left side narrow and the right side slightly wider.

Compared to 扭 (niǔ), the right side of 拮 is 吉 (lucky), while 扭 has 丑 (ugly). 扭 means "to twist", but 拮 only appears in words like 拮据 meaning "short of money". Visually, 吉 has a horizontal line over two stacked horizontals (士), while 丑 has a horizontal line over 土 with a vertical line through it. The character 㧜 is very rare and not used in modern Chinese.

拮 is almost never used alone; it appears mainly in the word 拮据 (jié jū), which means "financially tight" or "short of money". It is also found in the technical term 拮抗 (jié kàng) meaning "antagonism" in medicine or science. In everyday speech, people prefer simpler words like 没钱 or 紧张, but 拮据 sounds more formal and written.

Common words containing 拮 include: 拮据 (jié jū) — short of money; financially tight; 拮抗 (jié kàng) — antagonism; to antagonize; 拮据感 (jié jū gǎn) — a sense of financial strain.