How to Write 瞥 (piē) — Meaning “to glance; to shoot a look”

Imagine someone quickly glancing at a shabby (敝) object with their eye (目) — they just give it a fast peek. You can also picture the top part as a person stretching their neck to look at something for just a second. The key is linking the visual of a swift eye movement to the components 目 and 敝.

The top part 敝 is complex and has 11 strokes — be careful not to confuse its left side (攵, a common writing form) with a simple 攵. The bottom 目 (4 strokes) should be slightly narrower than the top part and positioned symmetrically. A common mistake is making the 目 too wide or forgetting to write the small dot inside it.

瞥 (piē) means a quick glance, while 睽 (kuí) means to stare or look at with wide eyes, and 睾 (gāo) is a rare character for testicles (not related to vision). Visually, 瞥 has 目 at the bottom, 睽 has 目 on the left, and 睾 has 目 on top. Avoid mixing up their meanings: 瞥 is about a brief look, 睽 is about a fixed gaze, and 睾 has nothing to do with sight.

瞥 is commonly used in phrases like 瞥见 (to catch a glimpse of) and 瞥一眼 (to shoot a quick look). It often describes an accidental or very brief glance, such as glancing out the window or quickly looking at someone in a crowd. It is slightly literary but still used in everyday speech to emphasize that the look was not deliberate or was very fast.

Common words containing 瞥 include: 瞥见 (piē jiàn) — to catch a glimpse of; 瞥一眼 (piē yì yǎn) — to take a quick glance; 一瞥 (yī piē) — a glance; a glimpse.