躇

chú

used in 躊躇|踌躇[chou2 chu2]

foot (足) + sound (著) = hesitating in place

足 anchors the meaning in movement of the feet — specifically the hesitant, lingering kind found in 躊躇. 著 contributes mainly the sound chú rather than a semantic idea.

足+著→躇
著To be attachedPhonetic
足FootSemantic

他站在门口躊躇了很久,不知道该不该进去。

tā zhàn zài mén kǒu chóu chú le hěn jiǔ, bù zhī dào gāi bù gāi jìn qù。

he stood at the doorway hesitating for a long time, not knowing whether to go in or not.

面对这个重要的决定,她心里躊躇,难以下定决心。

miàn duì zhè ge zhòng yào de jué dìng, tā xīn lǐ chóu chú, nán yǐ xià dìng jué xīn。

faced with this important decision, she felt hesitant in her heart and found it hard to make up her mind.

Words with 躇

踌躇满志

chóu chú mǎn zhì

enormously proud of one's success (idiom); smug

踟躇

chí chú

variant of 踟躕|踟蹰[chi2 chu2]

踌躇

chóu chú

to hesitate

踌躇不前

chóu chú bù qián

to hesitate to move forward

踌躇不决

chóu chú bù jué

to hesitate

More characters with 足

踔跶趼踉趾浞捉