How to Write 睨 (nì) — Meaning “To look askance.”

Imagine a person with a large eye (目) and a crooked neck (like the shape of 兒) looking sideways with suspicion. The right side 兒 can be remembered as a 'child' who looks away slyly, so you visually associate the character with a sideways glance.

The left radical 目 should be narrow and tall, taking up about one-third of the character. The right side 兒 has five strokes: start with a left-falling stroke (丿), then a vertical stroke (丨), then two dots (丶 丶) on the left side, and finally a horizontal stroke (一) at the bottom. Common mistake is making the right side too wide or forgetting the second dot.

眦 (zì) means the corner of the eye or to stare angrily, and has a different right component (此). 眭 (suī or guì) is a rare surname or means harsh glare, with right component 圭. In contrast, 睨 always means a sideways glance or looking askance, and its right side is 兒.

睨 is most commonly used in literary or formal contexts, such as in the word 斜睨 (xié nì) meaning to look askance or to leer, and 睥睨天下 (pì nì tiān xià) meaning to look down on the whole world with arrogance. It is not common in daily conversation but appears in classical idioms and poetic descriptions.

Common words containing 睨 include: 斜睨 (xié nì) — To look askance / To leer; 睥睨天下 (pì nì tiān xià) — To look down on the whole world.; 睨视 (nì shì) — To look askance at..