Chinese symbol for “retreat”
退
tuì
to retreat; to withdraw; to reject; to return (sth); to decline
The closest CC-CEDICT match for retreat is 退 (tuì), defined as: to retreat; to withdraw; to reject; to return (sth); to decline.
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
Other Chinese words for “retreat”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 撤退 | chè tuì | to retreat |
| 退却 (退卻) | tuì què | to retreat; to shrink back |
| 却 (卻) | què | but; yet |
| 退兵 | tuì bīng | to retreat; to withdraw troops; to force the enemy to retreat |
| 后退 (後退) | hòu tuì | to recoil; to draw back; to fall back; to retreat |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 退.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 退出 | tuì chū | to withdraw; to abort |
| 退休 | tuì xiū | to retire (from the workforce); to go into retirement |
| 撤退 | chè tuì | to retreat |
| 衰退 | shuāi tuì | to decline; to fall |
| 倒退 | dào tuì | to fall back; to go in reverse |
| 退役 | tuì yì | (of military personnel or athletes) to retire; (of outdated equipment) to be decommissioned |
See also: Japanese symbol for “retreat”.
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.