How to Write 欮 (jué) — Meaning “To faint”

Imagine a person (欠) who suddenly feels dizzy and collapses (like a '厥' sound). Think of 'jué' as the sound you make when you gasp and faint — 'jue'! Visualize the left part as a fainting body leaning to the right side of the character.

Write the left part 厥 first: stroke order is horizontal, left-falling, vertical, horizontal, vertical, horizontal-folding, horizontal, left-falling, and then the right part 欠: left-falling, horizontal-hook, left-falling, right-falling. A common mistake is writing the left part too wide; keep it narrow so the 欠 radical has room. The top of 厥 should align with the top of 欠.

欣 (xīn) means 'happy' and uses the radical 斤 (axe) instead of 厥, while 欧 (ōu) means 'Europe' and has the radical 区 (area). Visually, 欮 has a complex left side (厥) with many strokes, while 欣 has a simpler left side (斤). In usage, 欮 is very rare and only appears in medical or classical contexts, unlike 欣 which is common.

欮 is not used in daily conversation; it appears mainly in traditional Chinese medicine terms like 气欮 (qì jué, 'suffocation from blocked qi') and 欮逆 (jué nì, 'reversed qi flow'). You will almost never encounter this character outside of specialized medical texts or classical literature. Learning it is more about understanding its structure than practical use.

Common words containing 欮 include: 气欮 (qì jué) — Suffocation / Fainting from breath blockage; 欮然 (jué rán) — Suddenly fainting; 欮逆 (jué nì) — Qi rising up (TCM term).