How to Write 咠 (qì) — Meaning “to whisper; to slander”

Picture a person putting their mouth next to someone's ear to share a secret. The top part is the mouth (口) and the bottom is the ear (耳), so the character literally shows "mouth to ear" – perfect for remembering that it means "to whisper."

Write the top part 口 (mouth) first as a small box, then the bottom part 耳 (ear) with its longer vertical strokes. A common mistake is making the 口 too large or forgetting to keep the 耳 balanced directly below it, which ruins the "mouth-to-ear" shape.

咠 has 耳 (ear) below the mouth, while 君 (jūn, ruler) has 尹 (a hand holding a scepter) and 吝 (lìn, stingy) has 文 (pattern/writing) below the mouth. Visually, 咠 looks like a mouth over an ear, whereas 君 and 吝 have completely different lower components.

咠 is very rare in modern Chinese and mainly appears in classical or literary compounds like 咠咠 (qì qì, meaning whispering or slandering) and 谗咠 (chán qì, malicious gossip). You will almost never see it in everyday conversation; it is mostly encountered in old texts or poetry.

Common words containing 咠 include: 咠咠 (qì qì) — whispering; slandering; 咠嗟 (qì jiē) — to sigh; to whisper; 谗咠 (chán qì) — to slander or gossip maliciously.