How to Write 跎 (tuó) — Meaning “to waste time (usually in 'cuotuo')”

Imagine that 足 (foot) is stepping on the clock, and 它 (it) represents time itself. So 跎 can be remembered as "foot it away" — you are literally kicking your time, wasting it by foot-dragging.

Write the left radical 足 first (7 strokes: vertical, horizontal, vertical, horizontal, horizontal, left-falling, and a final horizontal stroke for the bottom), then add the right side 它 (5 strokes: dot, dot, horizontal hook, horizontal, vertical hook). A common mistake is writing the right part as 宅 (zhái); remember 它 has no roof stroke.

The right side is the key difference: 跎 has 它 (tuō), 趵 has 勺 (sháo, a ladle), and 趸 has 万 (wàn, ten thousand). In meaning, 跎 is only used in time-wasting compounds, while 趵 means "to leap" and 趸 means "wholesale" or "complete."

跎 appears almost exclusively in the compound 蹉跎 (cuō tuó) and its extension 蹉跎岁月, meaning to waste time or idle away one's years. It carries a poetic, often regretful tone, common in literature and sayings that urge not to let life slip by without achievement.

Common words containing 跎 include: 蹉跎 (cuō tuó) — To waste time; to let time slip by; 蹉跎岁月 (cuō tuó suì yuè) — To waste one's years; to idle away time; 跎掉 (tuó diào) — to waste (time).