How to Write 龉 (yǔ) — Meaning “uneven teeth; disagreement”

Picture two uneven rows of teeth that do not fit together smoothly, creating a 'five (吾 sounds like 'wu')' sense of awkwardness. This helps you recall that 龉 means both uneven teeth and disagreement, where things just do not match up.

Write the radical 齿 first with 7 strokes, paying attention to the bottom part which looks like a mouth with teeth. Then add 吾 on the right, keeping the overall shape balanced and slightly narrower on the left. A common mistake is making the radical too wide, which disrupts the proportion.

龉 (yǔ) is almost always used in the compound 龃龉 (jǔ yǔ) meaning 'discord' or 'friction,' while 龃 (jǔ) alone does not appear separately. 龄 (líng) means 'age' and uses the same radical 齿, but its right side is 令 (lìng), and its meaning comes from the growth of teeth indicating age, not from unevenness or disagreement.

龉 is rarely used alone and appears mostly in the set phrase 龃龉 (jǔ yǔ) to describe minor disagreements or friction between people or groups. It is a literary or formal term, not common in everyday speech, but you may encounter it in news or essays discussing diplomatic or relational discord.

Common words containing 龉 include: 龃龉 (jǔ yǔ) — discord; disagreement; friction; 些许龉龉 (xiē xǔ yǔ yǔ) — slight friction; minor disagreement; 毫无龉龉 (háo wú yǔ yǔ) — without any discord / no friction.