How to Write 疚 (jiù) — Meaning “Remorse; regret; chronic illness”

Picture yourself lying on a sickbed (疒) for a long, long time (久) because you feel guilty about something you did. The longer you stay, the more the regret grows. This links the illness radical and the 'long time' component to the meaning of remorse.

Write the radical 疒 first, with the dot, left-falling stroke, then the horizontal line. Inside, write 久: start with a left-falling stroke, then a horizontal stroke, and finally a right-falling stroke ending in a hook. A common mistake is making 久 too wide, which makes the character unbalanced; keep the inner part narrow.

疔 (dīng) means a painful boil or deep abscess, and 疖 (jiē) refers to a furuncle or skin lump. In contrast, 疚 (jiù) means remorse or chronic illness, not a skin condition. Visually, 疚 uses 久 (long time), while 疔 uses 丁 (nail) and 疖 uses 卩 (seal).

You will see 疚 in words like 愧疚 (guilty regret), 内疚 (inner guilt), and 歉疚 (feeling sorry). It is used when expressing moral or emotional remorse, such as after hurting someone's feelings. Culturally, expressing 内疚 is important in Chinese relationships to maintain harmony and show sincerity.

Common words containing 疚 include: 愧疚 (kuì jiù) — Guilty; compunction; regret.; 内疚 (nèi jiù) — guilty conscience; feel guilty; 歉疚 (qiàn jiù) — to feel guilty; to feel sorry.