Chinese symbol for “hesitant”
趑趄嗫嚅
zī jū niè rú
Traditional: 趑趄囁嚅
faltering steps, mumbling speech (idiom); hesitant; cringing; to cower
The closest CC-CEDICT match for hesitant is 趑趄嗫嚅 (zī jū niè rú), defined as: faltering steps, mumbling speech (idiom); hesitant; cringing; to cower.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “hesitant”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 趦趄嗫嚅 (趦趄囁嚅) | zī jū niè rú | faltering steps; mumbling speech |
| 媕婀 | ān ē | (literary) hesitant; indecisive |
| 东摇西摆 (東搖西擺) | dōng yáo xī bǎi | (idiom) to sway from side to side; unsteady; (idiom) indecisive; hesitant |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 趑趄嗫嚅.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 趑趄 | zī jū | to advance with difficulty; to hesitate to advance |
| 趑趄不前 | zī jū bù qián | hesitant and not daring to move forward (idiom) |
| 趔趄 | liè qie | to stagger; to stumble; to reel; Taiwan pr. [lie4ju1] |
| 打趔趄 | dǎ liè qie | to trip; to miss a step |
| 趦趄嗫嚅 (趦趄囁嚅) | zī jū niè rú | faltering steps; mumbling speech |
| 嗫嚅 (囁嚅) | niè rú | to stammer; to mumble |
| 呫嗫 (呫囁) | tiè niè | (onom.) muttering; to whisper |
| 嗫呫 (囁呫) | niè tiè | to whisper |
| 呫嚅 | chè rú | to whisper |
See also: Japanese symbol for “hesitant”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.