倔 (juè): gruff, surly

倔 (juè) is a Chinese character meaning “gruff.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (structural) and 屈 (structural). It ranks #2933 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 倔 someone 亻 who does not bend 屈; 屈 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 亻 (person) appears in many related characters such as 人 (rén, person), 什 (shén, what), 今 (jīn, now).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. gruff
  2. surly

Etymology & Origin

倔

ideographicSomeone 亻 who does not bend 屈; 屈 also provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿰亻屈 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Practice writing 倔 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
倔强adjectivejué jiàngstubborn
倔头juè tóua surly, irascible person
2
Total compounds
100
As first character
0
As last character
0
As middle character

倔 appears in 2 compound words: 100 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 倔 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

脾pí
0.50650 co-occurrences
强qiáng
0.445527 co-occurrences
萝luó
0.41414 co-occurrences
傲ào
0.39726 co-occurrences
磊lěi
0.38714 co-occurrences
性xìng
0.375396 co-occurrences
格gé
0.339194 co-occurrences
孤gū
0.33924 co-occurrences
固gù
0.32638 co-occurrences
坚jiān
0.31716 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

作为倔民,我们有责任保护环境。

zuò wéi jué mín , wǒ men yǒu zé rèn bǎo hù huán jìng .

As citizens, we have a responsibility to protect the environment.

中国新闻网·体育Sep 2026

但骨子里那股“十头牛拉不回头”的倔劲,让他不愿向命运低头。

dàn gǔ zǐ lǐ nà gǔ shí tóu niú lā bù huí tóu de juè jìn , ràng tā bù yuàn xiàng mìng yùn dī tóu .

But deep down, his stubbornness—so strong that “not even ten oxen could turn him around”—made him refuse to bow to fate.

中国新闻网·体育Jul 2026

姆巴佩的这段话,像是送给自己的慰藉,内里却带着其骨子里的冷静和倔强。

mǔ bā pèi de zhè duàn huà , xiàng shì sòng gěi zì jǐ de wèi Jí , nèi lǐ què dài zhe qí gǔ zǐ lǐ de lěng jìng hé juè qiáng .

These words from Mbappé seem like a source of comfort to himself, yet they reveal the calmness and stubbornness that run deep within him.

中国新闻网·体育Jul 2026

它的曲谱里,写着墨西哥人的热爱、浪漫和倔强。

tā de qū pǔ lǐ , xiě zhe mò xī gē rén de rè ài , làng màn hé juè qiáng .

Its musical score is imbued with the passion, romance, and tenacity of the Mexican people.

爱范儿May 2026

这种对电脑屏幕的“关怀”,是我们对这个疯狂内卷的世界,做出的最后、最倔强的伪装。

zhè zhǒng duì diàn nǎo bǐng mù de guān huái , shì wǒ men duì zhè gè fēng kuáng nèi juǎn de shì jiè , zuò chū de zuì hòu , zuì juè qiáng de wěi zhuāng .

This “care” for our computer screens is our final, most stubborn pretense in the face of this world of疯狂内卷.

Tatoeba

她是个倔强的女孩。

Tā shì gè juéjiàng de nǚhái.

She's a stubborn girl.

Tatoeba

我从来没碰到过这么倔的人。

Wǒ cóngláiméi pèngdào guo zhème jué de rén.

I have never come across such a stubborn person.

Tatoeba

他是我所见的最倔的一个孩子。

Tā shì wǒ suǒjiàn de zuì jué de yī gè háizi.

He is the most obstinate child I have ever seen.

Tatoeba

跟着岁数增长他变得比以前倔。

Gēnzhe suìshu zēngzhǎng tā biànde bǐ yǐqián jué.

As he grew older, he became more obstinate.

Tatoeba

事实是倔强的,但统计是柔顺的。

Shìshí shì juéjiàng de, dàn tǒngjì shì róushùn de.

Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced juè

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 倔 (juè) mean in Chinese?
倔 (juè) primarily means "gruff." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2933 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 倔 have?
倔 is written with 10 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 倔?
The radical associated with 倔 is 亻 (person). This radical appears in many characters related to person.
What are the components of 倔?
倔 is composed of: 亻 (structural), 屈 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰亻屈 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 倔?
Common words with 倔 include: 倔强 (jué jiàng, "stubborn"); 倔头 (juè tóu, "a surly, irascible person"). There are over 2 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 倔 (juè)?
Several characters share the pronunciation juè: 觉 (to feel, to sleep), 决 (to decide), 绝 (absolutely, to cut off), 爵 (ancient bronze wine holder with 3 legs and loop handle), and 3 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 倔 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 倔 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 倔 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.