How to Write 倨 (jù) — Meaning “arrogant / haughty”

Imagine a person (亻) standing tall and stiff like a ruler (居 contains 尸 for a corpse and 古 for old). This stiff, old-fashioned posture reminds you of someone acting arrogant or haughty, like they are better than others.

First write the left radical 亻 (stroke: left-slant then vertical). Then write the right part 居: start with 尸 (horizontal bend, horizontal, left-slant) then 古 (horizontal, vertical, vertical, horizontal bend, horizontal). A common mistake is making the left radical too wide; keep it narrow so the character stays balanced.

倨 (jù) has the person radical on the left and 居 on the right. 俎 (zǔ) has the person component on top and 且 below, looking like a cutting board. 俞 (yú) is different: it has a person on top and a lowercase-like bottom part (月 with a line), and means to agree or a surname.

倨 is a literary character rarely used alone but appears in formal words like 倨傲 (arrogant) and idioms like 前倨后恭 (first haughty then respectful). The idiom comes from a story about Su Qin visiting his family, showing how attitudes can change based on status.

Common words containing 倨 include: 倨傲 (jù ào) — arrogant / haughty; 前倨后恭 (qián jù hòu gōng) — to be haughty at first and then respectful later; 倨 (jù) — arrogant / haughty.