How to Write 撄 (yīng) — Meaning “to disturb”

Imagine a hand (扌) reaching out to disturb a baby (婴) who is sleeping peacefully. This visual of a hand bothering a crying baby ties the character's shape to its meaning of "to disturb."

Pay attention to the right side 婴: it has two 贝 (shell) stacked, each with a small 冖 (cover) above, and the bottom is 女 (woman). The overall balance is important—the left-hand radical should be narrow and the right side wide. A common mistake is making the top part of 婴 too large or misplacing the central strokes.

撄 (yīng) uses the hand radical and means "to disturb," while 掾 (yuàn) is a historical official title and uses the same radical but a different right side (彖). 揄 (yú) also has the hand radical but means "to pull" or "to show off," and its right side is 俞. Visually, 撄 is unique because of the baby (婴) component, which the others lack.

撄 is a literary or formal character, rarely used in everyday speech. It appears in set phrases like 撄锋 (to face a sharp edge) and 撄扰 (to harass). You might encounter it in classical texts or poetic writing where a more refined word for "disturb" or "confront" is needed.

Common words containing 撄 include: 撄锋 (yīng fēng) — to confront the brunt of an attack; to face a sharp edge; 撄扰 (yīng rǎo) — to disturb; to harass; 撄心 (yīng xīn) — to worry the mind.