How to Write 踬 (zhì) — Meaning “to stumble; to trip”

Imagine a person walking with a foot (足) and suddenly hitting a solid quality (质) object on the ground, causing them to stumble. The right part 质 looks like a combination of '斤' (axe) and '贝' (shell), which you can picture as a heavy shell that trips you up. This visual trick links the character to the action of tripping.

When writing 踬, first write the left radical 足 with all seven strokes, making sure the '口' part is narrow and the bottom '止' is well-balanced. Then write the right part 质, which has eight strokes; start with 厂 (horizontal stroke + left-falling) then 斤 and finally 贝. A common mistake is making the right side too wide—keep it slightly narrower than the left to maintain good proportion.

踬 specifically means 'to stumble or trip' due to an obstacle, while 跟 means 'to follow' or 'heel'. The character 䠀 is less common and often refers to a type of step or stomping motion. Visually, 踬 has the phonetic 质 on the right, whereas 跟 has 艮 and 䠀 has 尚, so pay attention to the right-side component to distinguish them.

踬 is not common in daily conversation but appears in literary or formal writing to describe stumbling, both physically and metaphorically. For example, 颠踬 can describe a person staggering, and 踬仆 is used in classical texts for falling. It is also found in idioms like 踬踬躇躇 (zhì zhì chú chú), meaning to walk unsteadily, adding a poetic touch to descriptions.

Common words containing 踬 include: 踬倒 (zhì dào) — to trip and fall; 颠踬 (diān zhì) — To stumble; to trip; 踬仆 (zhì pū) — to stumble and fall.