啜 meaning and stroke order
To drink, to sip; to sob, to weep
How to write 啜, stroke by stroke
11 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 啜
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (literary) to drink
- to sip
- to sob
How 啜 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 叕 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 啜
啜 has the mouth radical 口 on the left, which points to the meaning, and 叕 on the right, which gives the sound. Picture a mouth taking small, repeated sips, like the small repeated marks in 叕, or the short gasps of someone sobbing.
In modern Chinese 啜 appears mostly in literary writing and in set words, and it is usually read chuò. The most common word is 啜泣 (chuòqì), meaning to sob quietly. Example: 她一个人在房间里啜泣。(Tā yí gè rén zài fángjiān lǐ chuòqì.) She was sobbing alone in her room.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 啜 with 缀 (zhuì, to stitch or connect) and 辍 (chuò, to stop), since all three share 叕. Check the left side: 口 for mouth means sipping or sobbing.
Common words with 啜
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 啜泣 | chuòqì | to sob |
啜 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 啜
How many strokes are in 啜?
啜 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 啜 mean?
啜 (chuài) means to drink, to sip; to sob, to weep. A common word with it is 啜泣 (chuòqì), meaning "to sob".
How do you pronounce 啜?
啜 is pronounced chuài, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 啜?
The radical of 啜 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 啜 under this radical.
Is 啜 pronounced chuò or chuài?
The dictionary lists both readings. For the senses of sipping and sobbing, and in the word 啜泣, use chuò. The reading chuài is rare and mostly appears as a surname.
Can I use 啜 to say I am drinking tea in everyday speech?
Not usually. In daily conversation people say 喝 (hē) or 抿 (mǐn) for a small sip. 啜 sounds literary and fits written descriptions better.