How to Write 歉 (qiàn) — Meaning “apology; regret; deficient”

Imagine you have both (兼) a debt to repay and you owe (欠) an apology — the two parts together remind you that you are "doubly lacking" and need to say sorry. This visual of owing twice helps link the character to its meaning of regret.

Pay attention to the left side 兼: it has seven strokes including two horizontal lines, and the right side 欠 has four strokes. A common mistake is making the left side too wide — keep it narrow so the whole character stays balanced, and ensure the final stroke of 欠 (a downward leftward flick) extends slightly past the left part.

While 歉 focuses on apology or deficiency, 欹 (often used in literary contexts) means "to lean" or "slant" and has a different right component (奇 instead of 欠). 欺 (qī) means "to deceive" or "to bully" and uses the radical 欠 as well, but its left side is 其 (meaning "his/her/its") rather than 兼. So the key visual difference is the left component: 兼 for regret, 其 for fraud.

歉 appears in common polite expressions like 道歉 (dào qiàn, "to apologize") and 抱歉 (bào qiàn, "to feel sorry") — essential for showing humility after a mistake. In Chinese culture, apologizing directly with these words is valued, and using 歉 rather than just saying "sorry" in English conveys sincere regret and respect for social harmony.

Common words containing 歉 include: 道歉 (dào qiàn) — To apologize; 抱歉 (bào qiàn) — to feel sorry; 歉意 (qiàn yì) — apology; regret.