How to Write 伪 (wěi) — Meaning “Fake, false, or pseudo-.”

Imagine a person (亻) who is pretending to work (为) – they look busy but are actually faking it. The right side 为 can be seen as a person leaning forward as if trying to appear active, which helps link to the idea of falsehood.

Write the left radical 亻 first with two strokes (a left-falling slash and a vertical line), keeping it narrow. Then write the right part 为 with four strokes: dot, left-falling, horizontal, hook; make the hook smooth. A common mistake is confusing the right part with 办 (bàn, 'to do'), but 伪 uses 为, not 办.

什 (shén) means 'what' and has 十 (ten) on the right, while 仁 (rén) means 'benevolence' and has 二 (two) on the right. In contrast, 伪 (wěi) has 为 on the right and always means 'fake' or 'false', so they are visually and semantically distinct.

伪 appears in formal or written contexts, such as 伪造 (wěi zào, 'to forge'), 虚伪 (xū wěi, 'hypocritical'), and 伪装 (wěi zhuāng, 'disguise'). It is often used in news about counterfeits or in literature criticizing false behavior, but it is less common in everyday spoken Chinese.

Common words containing 伪 include: 伪造 (wěi zào) — To forge or counterfeit.; 虚伪 (xū wěi) — Hypocritical; false.; 伪装 (wěi zhuāng) — Disguise or camouflage..