疚 meaning and stroke order
Chronic disease; guilt, remorse; sorrow
How to write 疚, stroke by stroke
8 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 疚
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- chronic disease
- guilt
- remorse
How 疚 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Sickness.
疒 gives the meaning and 久 hints at the sound.
Radical: 疒 (sickness), shared by 127 characters on this site.
How to remember 疚
疚 is made of the sickness radical 疒 wrapped around 久 (jiǔ, a long time). A sickness that lasts a long time is a chronic illness, and guilt is like an ache in the heart that will not go away.
In modern Chinese 疚 almost never appears alone. It shows up in words about guilt, mainly 内疚 (nèijiù) and 愧疚 (kuìjiù). Example: 我对他一直很内疚。(Wǒ duì tā yìzhí hěn nèijiù.) I have always felt guilty toward him.
Common mistake: Learners often read 疚 as jiǔ because of its phonetic part 久, but 疚 is fourth tone jiù. It is also easy to confuse with 灸 (jiǔ, moxibustion), which has 火 under 久 instead of the sickness radical around it.
Common words with 疚
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
疚 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 疚
How many strokes are in 疚?
疚 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 疚 mean?
疚 (jiù) means chronic disease; guilt, remorse; sorrow. A common word with it is 内疚 (nèijiù), meaning "to feel guilty".
How do you pronounce 疚?
疚 is pronounced jiù, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 疚?
The radical of 疚 is 疒, which carries the idea of "sickness". Dictionaries list 疚 under this radical.
What is the difference between 内疚 and 愧疚?
Both mean feeling guilty. 内疚 (nèijiù) is more common in everyday speech and stresses an inner feeling of guilt. 愧疚 (kuìjiù) adds a sense of shame and sounds a bit more formal or written.
Can 疚 still mean chronic disease today?
That meaning is mostly found in classical or literary texts. In modern Chinese you will almost always meet 疚 in the sense of guilt or remorse, inside words like 内疚 and 愧疚.