How to Write 酲 (chéng) — Meaning “hangover”

Imagine that after drinking wine (酉), you 'present' (呈) yourself with a pounding headache — that's a hangover. Picture holding up a wine bottle and then showing your painful face to remember the link.

The left radical 酉 should be slightly wider than the right part 呈, and the horizontal strokes in 酉 must be evenly spaced. A common mistake is making the 呈 too large or off-center — keep it balanced and aligned vertically with the middle of 酉.

酲 (chéng) means hangover, 酡 (tuó) means a flushed face from drinking, and 酢 (cù) means vinegar or a toast. Visually, 酲 has 呈 (chéng), 酡 has 它 (tuō), and 酢 has 乍 (zhà), so look at the right-side component to tell them apart.

酲 is rarely used in everyday speech — modern Chinese prefers 宿醉 (sù zuì) for 'hangover'. It appears in literary or classical contexts, such as poems describing the lingering effects of alcohol, or in phrases like 宿酲 (lingering hangover) and 忧酲 (deep sorrow).

Common words containing 酲 include: 宿酲 (sù chéng) — hangover; 酲解 (chéng jiě) — to recover from a hangover; 忧酲 (yōu chéng) — Deep distress; sorrow.