How to Write 衄 (nǜ) — Meaning “Nosebleed”

Imagine a person with a bloody nose who says \"eww, 丑 (ugly)\" because nosebleeds are messy and unpleasant. The left side 血 reminds you of blood, and the right side 丑 helps you recall the sound nǜ.

When writing 衄, keep the left radical 血 narrow and tall, with the bottom horizontal stroke slightly slanted upward. The right part 丑 has four horizontal strokes; make sure the middle two strokes are shorter than the top and bottom ones to avoid making the character look too square.

衄 means nosebleed and uses the radical 血 (blood), while 衅 means a blood sacrifice or a conflict and uses the radical 血 as well but has a different right component (半). In modern Chinese, 衄 is rarely used except in medical terms, whereas 衅 appears in words like 挑衅 (provoke).

衄 is almost exclusively found in formal medical or literary contexts, such as in the word 鼻衄 (nosebleed). It is not used in daily conversation; instead, people simply say 流鼻血 (liú bí xuè). You may also encounter it in traditional Chinese medicine texts.

Common words containing 衄 include: 鼻衄 (bí nǜ) — Nosebleed; epistaxis; 衄血 (nǜ xuè) — Nosebleed; 挫衄 (cuò nǜ) — defeat; setback.