蹶 meaning and stroke order
To stumble, to fall; to trample
How to write 蹶, stroke by stroke
19 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 蹶
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to stumble
- to trample
- to kick (of horse)
- see 尥蹶子[liao4 jue3 zi5]
How 蹶 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Foot.
足 gives the meaning and 厥 hints at the sound.
Radical: 足 (foot), shared by 119 characters on this site.
How to remember 蹶
The foot radical 足 (zú) on the left tells you this is about feet, and 厥 (jué) on the right gives the sound. Picture a foot that trips and you go jué, down to the ground.
蹶 is mostly found in set phrases rather than on its own. The best known is 一蹶不振 (yī jué bù zhèn), meaning to fall once and never recover. Example: 他失败以后一蹶不振。(Tā shībài yǐhòu yī jué bù zhèn.) After failing, he never got back on his feet.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 蹶 with 撅 (juē, to stick up or pout) and 獗 (jué, as in 猖獗 chāngjué, rampant), since all three share 厥. Check the left side: 足 for the foot, 扌 for the hand, 犭 for the animal.
Questions about 蹶
How many strokes are in 蹶?
蹶 is written with 19 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 蹶 mean?
蹶 (jué) means to stumble, to fall; to trample.
How do you pronounce 蹶?
蹶 is pronounced jué, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 蹶?
The radical of 蹶 is 足, which carries the idea of "foot". Dictionaries list 蹶 under this radical.
Why is 蹶 sometimes read juě instead of jué?
The juě reading appears in the colloquial word 尥蹶子 (liào juězi), which describes a horse or donkey kicking backward. In casual speech it can also describe a person throwing a fit.
Is 蹶 used in everyday conversation?
Not much on its own. You will mainly meet it in the idiom 一蹶不振 and in 尥蹶子, so learning those two phrases covers most real uses.