扭 (niǔ): to turn, to twist, to wring
扭 (niǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “to turn.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 丑 (phonetic). It ranks #1788 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 扭 hand. Its radical form 扌 (hand) appears in many related characters such as 手 (shǒu, hand), 打 (dǎ, hit, make), 找 (zhǎo, to look for).
Definitions
- to turn
- to twist
- to wring
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 扭 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 扭曲 | niǔ qū | to twist |
| 别扭 | biè niu | awkward |
| 扭转 | niǔ zhuǎn | to reverse |
| 扭伤 | niǔ shāng | a sprain |
| 扭打 | niǔ dǎ | to wrestle |
| 闹别扭 | nào biè niu | to be difficult with sb |
| 扭转乾坤 | niǔ zhuǎn qián kūn | lit. to upend heaven and earth (idiom) |
| 扭头 | niǔ tóu | to turn one's head |
| 扭扭捏捏 | niǔ niǔ niē niē | affecting shyness or embarrassment |
| 扭力 | niǔ lì | torque |
| 歪歪扭扭 | wāi wāi niǔ niǔ | crooked |
| 强扭的瓜不甜 | qiǎng niǔ de guā bù tián | lit. if you have to use force to break a melon off the vine, it won't taste sweet (because it's only when the melon i... |
| 扭结 | niǔ jié | to tangle up |
| 七扭八歪 | qī niǔ bā wāi | misshapen |
| 扭扭乐 | niǔ niǔ lè | Twister (game) |
扭 appears in 25 compound words: 72 as the first character, 12 as the last, and 16 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 扭 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
to pretend to be shy, coy or embarrassed; to mince (when walking, talking, etc)
Example Sentences
他扭伤了脚踝，需要休息几天。
Tā niǔshāng le jiǎohuái, xūyào xiūxi jǐ tiān.
He sprained his ankle and needs to rest for a few days.
医病之间/脚踝扭伤 物理治疗师:不肿不痛还不算痊愈
yī bìng zhī jiān jiǎo 踝 niǔ shāng wù lǐ zhì liáo shī : bù zhǒng bù tòng hái bù suàn 痊 yù
Between doctors and patients/ankle sprains Physiotherapist: No swelling or pain is not cured
...年度业绩,股东应占利润7.09亿元 同比扭亏为盈
. . . nián dù yè jì , gǔ dōng yīng zhàn lì rùn 7 . 0 9 yì yuán tóng bǐ niǔ kuī wéi yíng
... Annual results, profit attributable to shareholders of 709 million yuan year-on-year turnaround
财政预算案2026|提早三年扭亏为盈 财政改革倒逼上路
cái zhèng yù suàn àn 2 0 2 6 tí zǎo sān nián niǔ kuī wéi yíng cái zhèng gǎi gé dǎo bī shàng lù
Budget 2026|Turn losses into profits three years ahead of schedule Fiscal reform is on the road
日扭蛋店社長偷拍女客裙底 手機藏2千部影片辯...
rì niǔ dàn diàn shè 長 tōu pāi nǚ kè qún de shǒu 機 zàng qiān bù yǐng piàn 辯 . . .
[Translation pending - quota exceeded]
挑戰恐怖片極限尺度!《墓乃伊》皮膚指甲扭曲變形 駭人模樣曝光
tiāo 戰 kǒng bù piàn 極 xiàn chǐ dù ! mù nǎi yī pí 膚 zhǐ jiǎ niǔ qū 變 xíng 駭 rén mó 樣 pù guāng
[Translation pending - quota exceeded]
她锻炼时扭伤了脚踝。
Tā duànliàn shí niǔ shāng le jiǎohuái.
She twisted her ankle while she was doing exercise.
不要扭曲我说的话。
Bù yào niǔqū wǒ shuō dehuà.
Don't twist my words.
汤姆扭伤了手腕。
Tāngmǔ niǔshāng le shǒuwàn.
Tom sprained his wrist.
我开门的时候把门柄扭了出来。
Wǒ kāimén de shíhou bǎ ménbǐng niǔ le chūlái.
I tried to open the door, and the doorknob came off.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 扭 (niǔ)?
Is 扭 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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