How to Write 乜 (miē) — Meaning “to squint; what (Cantonese)”

Imagine the horizontal stroke as an eyebrow and the hook as the lower eyelid, forming a squinting eye. You can also think of a person saying "Mieh?" while squinting, matching the pinyin miē.

Write the horizontal stroke first, from left to right, then the vertical hook starting from the end of the horizontal, going down and curving left at the bottom. A common mistake is making the hook too straight without a curve, which changes the shape.

乜 has two strokes (horizontal then hook), while 乙 is a single curved stroke meaning "second." 九 also has two strokes but starts with a left-falling stroke and ends with a horizontal hook, and it means "nine." Visually, 乜 looks flatter and more like a squint.

In Mandarin, 乜 appears mostly in the compound 乜斜 (miē xié) meaning "to squint" or "to look askance." In Cantonese, it is a common question word meaning "what" (e.g., 乜嘢 meaning "what thing"). It is not part of the HSK and is most often encountered in Cantonese-speaking regions.

Common words containing 乜 include: 乜斜 (miē xié) — to squint; to look askance; 乜眼 (miē yǎn) — to squint; 乜乜 (miē miē) — so-and-so; etc. (Cantonese).