How to Write 撅 (juē) — Meaning “to break (something long and thin); to stick out; to pout”

Imagine your hand (扌) gripping a thin stick that you suddenly snap in half — the sound is like "juē"! Or picture yourself pouting your lips (撅嘴) as if they are a piece of elastic that you are pushing outward with your hand.

Write the hand radical 扌 first, with the vertical stroke passing through the horizontal. The right part 厥 has many strokes: start with the top left stroke, then write 厂, then the dot and the lower part that resembles 欠 plus 山. A common mistake is making the right side too wide or forgetting the dot below the left stroke.

搋 (chuāi) means to knead or stuff something into a place, and 搌 (zhǎn) means to wipe or dust with a cloth. In contrast, 撅 specifically means to snap a long thin object or to stick out your lips (pout). Visually, 搋 and 搌 have different right-side components (揣 and 展), so their meanings are not about breaking or protruding.

撅嘴 (juē zuǐ, to pout) is very common for describing a child or person expressing displeasure by sticking out their lips. 撅断 (juē duàn, to snap) is used when breaking a pencil, twig, or similar thin object. This character is informal and appears in everyday speech but not in HSK vocabulary.

Common words containing 撅 include: 撅嘴 (juē zuǐ) — to pout; to stick out one's lips; 撅断 (juē duàn) — to snap; to break off; 撅着 (juē zhe) — sticking up; pouting.