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).
Definitions
- gruff
- surly
Etymology & Origin
ideographicSomeone 亻 who does not bend 屈; 屈 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰亻屈 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
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
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.
Example Sentences
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.
她是个倔强的女孩。
Tā shì gè juéjiàng de nǚhái.
She's a stubborn girl.
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.
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.
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.
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.
你为什么这么倔？
Nǐ wèishénme zhème jué?
Why are you so stubborn?
你变得又老又倔。
Nǐ biànde yòu lǎo yòu jué.
You've become old and stubborn.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 倔 (juè)?
Is 倔 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 倔 with real-time feedback
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