How to Write 觖 (jué) — Meaning “dissatisfied; discontented”

Picture a horned animal (角) standing next to a broken branch (夬 looks like a branch snapped in two). The animal is unhappy because it cannot reach the leaves, so feeling 觖 (discontented). This links the visual of horn plus broken branch to dissatisfaction.

Write the left side 角 first with 7 strokes: start with the top hook, then the two diagonal strokes for the horn, then the vertical and inner strokes. The right side 夬 has 4 strokes: horizontal, left diagonal, right diagonal, then a final downward-left stroke (捺). A common mistake is making 角 too wide or mixing up the stroke order of 夬 — remember the horizontal comes first.

觖 (jué, dissatisfied) has 夬 on the right meaning 'decisive', while 觚 (gū, a wine vessel) has 瓜 (melon) on the right, and 觜 (zī, beak) has 此 (this) on the right. Visually, 觖 has only 4 strokes on the right side, making it simpler than the others. In usage, 觖 expresses emotion, whereas 觚 refers to a cup and 觜 to a mouth or beak.

觖 is very rare in everyday speech and appears mainly in classical or formal literary texts. It shows up in words like 觖望 (disappointment) and 觖心 (dissatisfaction), but these are old-fashioned. You might encounter it in historical novels or essays describing deep discontent, but it is not part of common vocabulary.

Common words containing 觖 include: 觖望 (jué wàng) — to be disappointed; to feel dissatisfied; 觖如 (jué rú) — discontented; dissatisfied; 觖心 (jué xīn) — feeling of dissatisfaction.