How to Write 渎 (dú) — Meaning “Ditch or to slight.”

Imagine a "ditch" full of dirty water (氵) where someone has "sold out" (卖) their duty by neglecting it. This connects the water radical to the ditch meaning, and 卖 helps you recall that 渎职 means dereliction of duty. Picture a person selling their responsibilities into a watery ditch — that's 渎.

The left radical 氵 (three dots) should be compact and slightly slanted, while the right side 卖 has a top stroke (一) that must not touch the vertical strokes below. A common mistake is making the top of 卖 too wide or forgetting the dot above the horizontal stroke in 卖. Keep the right side balanced and slightly narrower than the left water radical.

渎 means "ditch" or "to slight," while 洁 (jié) means "clean" or "pure" — a state of water, not a channel. 洄 (huí) means "to swirl" or "to go against the current," focusing on water movement. Visually, 渎 has 卖 on the right, 洁 has 吉 (jí), and 洄 has 回 (huí). Their radicals are all 氵, but the right components completely change the meaning and pronunciation.

渎 appears in formal or serious contexts, like 渎职 (dereliction of duty) for officials neglecting responsibilities, and 亵渎 (to desecrate) for disrespecting sacred things. 沟渎 (ditch) is less common but used in literature or technical descriptions of drainage. This character carries a negative tone and is not used in everyday conversation — you'll mostly encounter it in news, legal documents, or formal writing.

Common words containing 渎 include: 渎职 (dú zhí) — Malfeasance or dereliction of duty.; 亵渎 (xiè dú) — to blaspheme; to profane; to desecrate; 沟渎 (gōu dú) — Ditch / Drain.