How to Write 舔 (tiǎn) — Meaning “To lick”

Imagine your tongue (舌) touching a sweet, sticky candy on a plate — the right side 忝 looks like a person with a big mouth reaching out to lick. Picture yourself saying "mmm, I want to tiǎn (lick) that!" to connect the sound and shape.

The left side radical 舌 has seven strokes: a short left-falling stroke, then horizontal, vertical, horizontal, then a left-falling and a vertical hook. The right side 忝 has seven strokes too, and the top part (夭) must be written with a shorter second horizontal stroke — don't make it too tall. A common mistake is making the left and right sides uneven; keep 舌 slightly narrower than 忝 to balance the character.

舒 (shū, meaning 'to unfold' or 'comfortable') has the radical 舌 on the left but a different right side (予), and is not related to licking. 舖 (pù, meaning 'shop' or 'bed') is actually a variant of 舖 (pù) and has the radical 舌 on the left plus 甫 on the right, but it means 'to spread out' or 'store'. 舔 is the only one that means 'to lick' and is pronounced tiǎn.

舔 is commonly used for the literal action of licking, like 舔嘴唇 (tiǎn zuǐ chún) 'to lick one's lips' or 舔食 (tiǎn shí) 'to lick and eat'. It also appears in informal slang, such as 舔狗 (tiǎn gǒu) 'a bootlicker' or 'simp', describing someone who fawns over another person. The character carries a slightly negative connotation in slang, so be careful when using it in polite conversation.

Common words containing 舔 include: 舔 (tiǎn) — To lick; 舔嘴唇 (tiǎn zuǐ chún) — To lick one's lips; 舔食 (tiǎn shí) — To lick and eat.