How to Write 犹 (yóu) — Meaning “still; yet; like”

Picture a dog (犭) that is still waiting and not moving because it is unsure. The right side 尤 looks like a person with arms out, hesitating. So think: "The dog is still hesitating, just like 犹 means 'still' and 'hesitate'."

The left radical 犭 is written first with three strokes: left-falling, then horizontal left-falling, then vertical left-falling. The right side 尤 starts with a horizontal, then a left-falling, then a vertical hook, and finally a dot inside the hook area. A common mistake is to forget the dot or to make the hook too straight.

犹 (yóu) means "still/yet" or appears in "犹豫" (hesitate), while 犯 (fàn) means "to violate" or "commit a crime". Visually, 犯 has a right side that looks like an open snake shape (㠯), whereas 犹 has 尤 with a dot. 犰 (qiú) is a rare character with 九 on the right, used in ancient animal names.

犹 is used in common words like 犹豫 (to hesitate), 犹如 (just like/as if), and 犹太 (Jewish). It appears in formal or written Chinese, especially in comparisons (e.g., 犹如梦境 "just like a dream") and in the fixed expression 犹可 (still acceptable). Note that 犹太 is a phonetic transcription for "Jew/Jewish" and has no literal meaning.

Common words containing 犹 include: 犹豫 (yóu yù) — to hesitate; 犹如 (yóu rú) — just like; as if; 犹太 (yóu tài) — Jewish; Jew.