How to Write 愧 (kuì) — Meaning “Ashamed; guilty.”

Imagine your heart (忄) feels heavy because a ghost (鬼) is reminding you of something bad you did. The ghost represents the guilty feeling that won't leave you alone. This visual trick helps you connect the left side (heart) and right side (ghost) to the meaning of shame.

When writing 愧, note that the radical 忄 is written first as two dots then a vertical stroke; the right side 鬼 has 10 strokes and must be balanced. A common mistake is making the 鬼 part too wide—keep it slightly narrower than the left heart radical. The last stroke of 鬼 is a curved hook (乚) that should extend downward, not too flat.

愧 (ashamed) has the ghost component 鬼 on the right, while 悃 (sincere) has 困 (kùn, trapped) on the right—悃 means "sincere from the heart" without any guilty feeling. 悄 (quiet) has 肖 (xiào, similar) on the right and means "quiet" or "stealthy," so the radical 忄 plus 肖 gives a different emotion. Visually, remember: ghost = guilt, trapped = sincerity, small (肖) = quiet.

愧 is used in formal or written Chinese to express deep shame or guilt, such as in 惭愧 (cán kuì, ashamed) and 愧疚 (kuì jiù, guilty with regret). It appears in self‑criticism or apologies, like 深感愧疚 (shēn gǎn kuì jiù, feel deeply guilty). In Chinese culture, admitting 愧 shows humility and moral awareness, so it is more common in serious contexts than everyday speech.

Common words containing 愧 include: 惭愧 (cán kuì) — ashamed; 愧疚 (kuì jiù) — Guilty; compunction; regret.; 羞愧 (xiū kuì) — ashamed and guilty.