How to Write 绰 (chuò) — Meaning “Ample; spacious; generous”

Imagine a long, ample silk scarf (纟) that is so generous it can wrap around a tall person (卓) many times. The scarf is "more than enough" to cover them, linking to the word 绰绰有余. Picture the scarf being nice and spacious, just like your memory of this character.

Write the left radical 纟 first (three strokes: ㇇, ㇀, 一), then the right side 卓. 卓 starts with a short vertical (丨) then a horizontal left-to-right (一), followed by 早 (a vertical, then 曰 and 十). A common mistake is making the silk radical too narrow or forgetting the dot in 纟; keep the left side compact and the right side balanced vertically.

绑 (bǎng, to tie) has the same silk radical but the right side 邦 (country), giving it the meaning of binding or tying up. 绒 (róng, velvet) uses the silk radical with 戎 (army), referring to fine, soft fibers. In contrast, 绰 focuses on spaciousness or abundance, not tying or texture. Visually, 绰 has the taller right component 卓, while 绑 and 绒 have flatter or different right sides.

绰 appears in everyday words like 绰号 (nickname), 宽绰 (spacious or well-off), and the idiom 绰绰有余 (more than enough). A cultural note: 绰号 is a common term for a nickname, often informal and sometimes affectionate or teasing, but rarely offensive. Knowing 绰 helps you understand the idea of having "ample" room or resources in a positive sense.

Common words containing 绰 include: 绰号 (chuò hào) — Nickname; 宽绰 (kuān chuò) — Spacious / Well-off; 绰绰有余 (chuò chuò yǒu yú) — More than enough; plenty.