cuì
interjection #32,129

Meanings

  1. 1 to spit (in contempt)
  2. 2 pshaw! (exclamation of disdain)
  3. 3 (literary) to sip

Examples

Tā cuì le yī kǒu, zhuǎn shēn jiù zǒu.
He spat once and turned to leave.
Cuì! Shéi xìn nǐ de huà?
Pshaw! Who would believe what you say?

Tips

register
belongs to spoken/literary fiction more than everyday speech today. You'll meet it most often in classic novels (《红楼梦》 Dream of the Red Chamber uses it constantly for characters showing scorn) and in dubbed period dramas — a quick 'tsk!' or contemptuous spit before an insult.
memory
The (mouth) radical plus (sudden, finished) — picture a sudden burst from the mouth: that's a 'pshaw!' or a spit.

Stroke Order

cuì