How to Write 颏 (kē) — Meaning “chin”

Imagine you have a piece of cake (sounds like 'kē') stuck on your chin, and the 页 radical looks like a head turning to see it. The left part 亥 can remind you of a pig's snout (亥 is the zodiac pig), so picture a pig's chin.

Write the left part 亥 first: start with a dot, then a horizontal stroke, then a left-falling stroke, followed by two strokes inside. The right part 页 is smaller and sits to the right, with its top horizontal shorter than the left part. A common mistake is making the 亥 too wide or forgetting the dot at the top.

颏 (kē) means 'chin' and uses the phonetic 亥, while 顽 (wán) means 'stubborn' or 'naughty' and combines 元 (yuán) with 页. 顼 (xū) is very rare, mostly used in the name 颛顼 (Zhuānxū, an ancient emperor), and has a different left component (玉). Visually, 颏 has 亥 on the left, 顽 has 元, and 顼 has 玉.

颏 is used in formal or medical contexts, such as 下颏 (xià kē, 'chin') or 颏部 (kē bù, 'chin area'), and in descriptions of facial shape like 尖下颏 (jiān xià kē, 'pointed chin'). It is not common in everyday speech, but in Chinese face reading (physiognomy), a well-shaped chin is considered a sign of good fortune.

Common words containing 颏 include: 下颏 (xià kē) — chin; 颏部 (kē bù) — chin area; 尖下颏 (jiān xià kē) — Pointed chin.