<p><strong>側着頭/偏着頭/歪着頭</strong> - tilt one's head</p>
<p>&quot;側&quot; - incline; slant; side (偏 and 歪 similar)</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The dog tilted its head in confusion. 這狗不解的<strong>側着頭</strong>.</p>
</li>
<li><p>He tilted his head and thought for a while. - 他<strong>側着頭</strong>想了一陣子/一會ㄦ.</p>
</li>
<li><p>That bird tilts its head looking at me curiously. - 那鳥ㄦ<strong>側着頭</strong>好奇的看着我</p>
</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-28T19:32:20.717Z
I think 歪着头 is the most accurate one as 侧着头/偏着头 sound like turning (rotating along the vertical axis) instead of tilting one’s head.
kyc
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-28T22:55:19.980Z
@kyc I agree that "偏着头" doesn't describe the meaning properly, but " 侧着头" is actually correct.  侧着头 *does not* mean a rotation along the vertical axis. Tilt is a rotation of the horizontal axis.
Admirer of the dragon flag
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-29T08:52:30.317Z
Those two 的’s should be 地’s, surely?
Janus Bahs Jacquet
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-29T17:23:10.783Z
@JanusBahsJacquet You are correct. Revised.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-30T15:49:47.680Z
@kyc Please click on the link to check out the meaning of  偏 - https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E5%81%8F
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-28T18:54:27.223Z
2024-08-28T19:26:58.130Z
2024-08-28T19:26:58.130Z
r13
<p>Cute little dogs in Disney films don't actually tilt their heads when the are puzzled, they twist their necks so that the vertical axis of the head is at an angle to the vertical axis of the body, a sideways tilt. And they go &quot;hmmm&quot; in a high-pitched whine.</p>
<p>The dog tilted its head in confusion.
那条狗困惑地歪着头。</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-29T22:31:02.210Z
But OP never stated anything about "Disney" anywhere in the question.
Admirer of the dragon flag
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-29T10:30:35.863Z
2024-08-29T10:30:35.863Z
Pedro Rodriguez
<p>Generally speaking, &quot;歪&quot;, &quot;傾&quot;, &quot;側&quot; are all good approximations of &quot;tilt&quot;. For &quot;tilting one's head&quot;, the best translation would be &quot;側著頭&quot;, &quot;歪頭&quot;, or &quot;傾頭&quot;. Some things to note here:</p>
<ul>
<li>Although &quot;倾斜&quot; does in fact mean &quot;tilt&quot;, it is not suitable in this case. &quot;倾斜&quot; is used only on (usually large) <em>objects</em>, not a human head. For example, &quot;比薩斜塔傾斜3.97度。&quot; (&quot;The Leaning Tower of Pisa is tilted at an angle of 3.97 degrees&quot;.) . Another example would be &quot;那艘船傾斜10度&quot; (&quot;That ship is listing at an angle of 10 degrees.&quot;). However, you usually would not say &quot;他傾斜著頭&quot;, although technically is is not completely incorrect.</li>
<li>&quot;头是侧在一旁&quot; is not incorrect, but there's no need for that many words (six, to be precise) to express the meaning. &quot;歪頭&quot; (two words) would suffice.</li>
<li>&quot;侧屈&quot; means <a href="https://library.fiveable.me/key-terms/anatomy-physiology/lateral-flexion" rel="nofollow noreferrer">lateral flexion</a>. Although it <em>does in fact</em> include the tilting/movements of the neck and thus head, it is not limited to the head and neck. Using it here is not the best fit, since readers may misinterpret it as a movement of the body or tilting of the waist. &quot;头部侧屈&quot;, although clear, is quite awkward, so I suggest to not use &quot;侧屈&quot; at all.</li>
</ul>
<p>For your example sentence, the correct translation would be &quot;那隻狗疑惑地歪著頭&quot;.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-29T08:55:42.717Z
“那隻狗疑惑**地**歪著頭”, surely, unless you’re saying it was so confused it tilted its head?
Janus Bahs Jacquet
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-29T09:20:02.427Z
@JanusBahsJacquet Exactly what I want to say. Thank you, 的地得小警察
kyc
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-29T22:30:15.270Z
@JanusBahsJacquet Personally, I think 地 and 得 are interchangeable here, but I can edit my post to replace 得 with 地 if you think it's better. I thought that 地 is just the simplified Chinese version of 得 in this context; although simplified Chinese also has 得, they never use 得 in this context, using 地 instead. Thus, I supposed that they are just two ways of expressing the same meaning. Anyway, if you think it's better to use 地, I'll edit my post. Thanks for the suggestion, BTW.
Admirer of the dragon flag
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-30T07:23:13.390Z
@Admirer No, they’re not interchangeable in simplified: 得 is used for degree and potential complements (跑步跑**得**很快 ‘runs quickly’ = 很快 is the degree, i.e., fast running speed; 听得懂 = 懂 is the ability that results from 听), while 地 is used to show that something non-adverbial is used adverbially (很快**地**跑过来 ‘quickly ran over’ = 很快 describes the verb phrase, i.e., it was done without delay). So 疑惑地歪着头 means ‘tilted its head in an 疑惑 way’, while 疑惑得歪着头 (possibly not quite grammatical) would mean ‘was confused to a 歪着头 degree’.
Janus Bahs Jacquet
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-28T23:28:02.510Z
2024-08-30T03:55:13.083Z
2024-08-30T03:55:13.083Z
Admirer of the dragon flag
<p>I’m looking for the correct way to express the phrase &quot;head tilt&quot; in Chinese.</p>
<p>I’ve come across terms like:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>&quot;<strong>倾斜</strong>&quot;: which refers to something that is tilted .</p>
</li>
<li><p>Phrases that describe the action, such as &quot;<strong>头是侧在一旁</strong>&quot; (the head is tilted to the side).</p>
</li>
<li><p>While in gymnastics, this term is used: &quot;<strong>侧屈</strong>&quot; (To tilt side to side). Such as &quot;头部侧屈” （head tilt)。</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>However, I’m struggling to find a precise translation for the adjective that describes someone tilting their head.</p>
<pre><code>   Example: The dog tilted his head in confusion.
</code></pre>
<p>Can anyone help?</p>

<translation><terminology><adjectives><subjective>
How do you say "head tilt“ in Chinese?
# How do you say "head tilt“ in Chinese?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-08-28)

I’m looking for the correct way to express the phrase "head tilt" in Chinese.
I’ve come across terms like:

"倾斜": which refers to something that is tilted .

Phrases that describe the action, such as "头是侧在一旁" (the head is tilted to the side).

While in gymnastics, this term is used: "侧屈" (To tilt side to side). Such as "头部侧屈” （head tilt)。


However, I’m struggling to find a precise translation for the adjective that describes someone tilting their head.
   Example: The dog tilted his head in confusion.

Can anyone help?

**Tags:** translation, terminology, adjectives, subjective

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2024-08-28. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Generally speaking, "歪", "傾", "側" are all good approximations of "tilt". For "tilting one's head", the best translation would be "側著頭", "歪頭", or "傾頭". Some things to note here:

* Although "倾斜" does in fact mean "tilt", it is not suitable in this case. "倾斜" is used only on (usually large) *objects*, not a human head. For example, "比薩斜塔傾斜3.97度。" ("The Leaning Tower of Pisa is tilted at an angle of 3.97 degrees".) . Another example would be "那艘船傾斜10度" ("That ship is listing at an angle of 10 degrees."). However, you usually would not say "他傾斜著頭", although technically is is not completely incorrect.
* "头是侧在一旁" is not incorrect, but there's no need for that many words (six, to be precise) to express the meaning. "歪頭" (two words) would suffice.
* "侧屈" means [lateral flexion](https://library.fiveable.me/key-terms/anatomy-physiology/lateral-flexion). Although it *does in fact* include the tilting/movements of the neck and thus head, it is not limited to the head and neck. Using it here is not the best fit, since readers may misinterpret it as a movement of the body or tilting of the waist. "头部侧屈", although clear, is quite awkward, so I suggest to not use "侧屈" at all.

For your example sentence, the correct translation would be "那隻狗疑惑地歪著頭".

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: “那隻狗疑惑**地**歪著頭”, surely, unless you’re saying it was so confused it tilted its head?  
> **username_2**: @JanusBahsJacquet Exactly what I want to say. Thank you, 的地得小警察  
> **username_3**: @JanusBahsJacquet Personally, I think 地 and 得 are interchangeable here, but I can edit my post to replace 得 with 地 if you think it's better. I thought that 地 is just the simplified Chinese version of 得 in this context; although simplified Chinese also has 得, they never use 得 in this context, using 地 instead. Thus, I supposed that they are just two ways of expressing the same meaning. Anyway, if you think it's better to use 地, I'll edit my post. Thanks for the suggestion, BTW.  
> **username_4**: @Admirer No, they’re not interchangeable in simplified: 得 is used for degree and potential complements (跑步跑**得**很快 ‘runs quickly’ = 很快 is the degree, i.e., fast running speed; 听得懂 = 懂 is the ability that results from 听), while 地 is used to show that something non-adverbial is used adverbially (很快**地**跑过来 ‘quickly ran over’ = 很快 describes the verb phrase, i.e., it was done without delay). So 疑惑地歪着头 means ‘tilted its head in an 疑惑 way’, while 疑惑得歪着头 (possibly not quite grammatical) would mean ‘was confused to a 歪着头 degree’.  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-08-28. Score: 2

**側着頭/偏着頭/歪着頭** - tilt one's head

"側" - incline; slant; side (偏 and 歪 similar)

* The dog tilted its head in confusion. 這狗不解的**側着頭**.
* He tilted his head and thought for a while. - 他**側着頭**想了一陣子/一會ㄦ.
* That bird tilts its head looking at me curiously. - 那鳥ㄦ**側着頭**好奇的看着我

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I think 歪着头 is the most accurate one as 侧着头/偏着头 sound like turning (rotating along the vertical axis) instead of tilting one’s head.  
> **username_3**: @kyc I agree that "偏着头" doesn't describe the meaning properly, but " 侧着头" is actually correct.  侧着头 *does not* mean a rotation along the vertical axis. Tilt is a rotation of the horizontal axis.  
> **username_4**: Those two 的’s should be 地’s, surely?  
> **username_1**: @JanusBahsJacquet You are correct. Revised.  
> **username_1**: @kyc Please click on the link to check out the meaning of  偏 - https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E5%81%8F  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2024-08-29. Score: 1

Cute little dogs in Disney films don't actually tilt their heads when the are puzzled, they twist their necks so that the vertical axis of the head is at an angle to the vertical axis of the body, a sideways tilt. And they go "hmmm" in a high-pitched whine.

The dog tilted its head in confusion.
那条狗困惑地歪着头。

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: But OP never stated anything about "Disney" anywhere in the question.  

---

