About
忸 is a phono-semantic compound: the left-side heart radical 忄 marks it as related to emotions or mental states, while the right-side component 丑 indicates the pronunciation. Its primary meaning is bashfulness, shyness, or slight embarrassment. The character is very rarely used by itself; almost always, it appears in the compound 忸怩, which describes someone acting coy, sheepish, or artificially shy, particularly conveying an internal sense of awkwardness or hesitation.
Example Words
Report an issue
Flag incorrect definitions, examples, etymology, etc.