How to Write 倚 (yǐ) — Meaning “lean on / rely on”

Picture a person (亻) leaning on a strange (奇) object, like a weird chair. This combines the radical and the phonetic part to remember the meaning 'lean on' or 'rely on'.

Write the left radical 亻 first with a left falling stroke and a vertical stroke. Then write the right part 奇: start with a horizontal, then a hook, a long vertical through the middle, and finally the bottom '可' component. Keep the left side narrow and the right balanced.

倚 (yǐ) means 'lean on' and has the right part 奇. 佩 (pèi) means 'wear' or 'admire' and has a right component with a cloth radical (巾). 佬 (lǎo) refers to an old man or a person from a region, and its right part is 老 (old).

倚 appears in formal or written Chinese, often in words like 倚靠 (to lean on) and 倚重 (to rely heavily on). Culturally, 倚门 (lean against the door) appears in classical poetry to describe longing or waiting, giving it a literary flavor.

Common words containing 倚 include: 倚靠 (yǐ kào) — lean on / depend on; 倚门 (yǐ mén) — lean against the door; 倚重 (yǐ zhòng) — rely heavily on / place great trust in.