Chinese symbol for “otherwise”
否则
fǒu zé
Traditional: 否則
otherwise; if not; or (else)
The closest CC-CEDICT match for otherwise is 否则 (fǒu zé), defined as: otherwise; if not; or (else).
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 “otherwise”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 要不然 | yào bù rán | otherwise; or else |
| 再不然 | zài bu rán | otherwise; alternatively; or else |
| 不然 | bù rán | not so; no |
| 要不 | yào bù | otherwise; or else |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 否则.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 是否 | shì fǒu | whether (or not); if |
| 否认 (否認) | fǒu rèn | to declare to be untrue; to deny |
| 能否 | néng fǒu | whether one can; whether it is possible |
| 否定 | fǒu dìng | to negate; to deny |
| 否决 (否決) | fǒu jué | to veto; to overrule |
| 原则 (原則) | yuán zé | principle; doctrine |
| 规则 (規則) | guī zé | rule; regulation; regular; orderly; fixed |
| 准则 (準則) | zhǔn zé | norm; standard |
See also: Japanese symbol for “otherwise”.
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.