How to Write 冽 (liè) — Meaning “cold; biting (of wind or water)”

Imagine a row (列) of icicles (冫) hanging from a roof on a freezing winter day. The icicles are arranged in a line, and their sharp points represent the biting cold wind—this helps you associate 冽 with piercing cold.

Write the left radical 冫 first (two dots, top then bottom), then the right part 列: start with the horizontal stroke, then the vertical stroke through it, the left-falling stroke, and finally the small 刂 (knife radical). A common mistake is making the two dots of 冫 too far apart or aligning them incorrectly—keep them close and slightly diagonal.

冽 (liè) specifically describes a piercing, biting cold, often used for wind or water, while 冰 (bīng) simply means ice or icy cold (as a noun or adjective). 冱 (hù) is a rare character meaning frozen or closed (e.g., rivers freezing), so 冽 is more about the sensation of sharp coldness, whereas the others focus on the physical state of ice.

冽 appears in literary and descriptive contexts, like 凛冽 (lǐn liè) for bitterly cold winter wind or 清冽 (qīng liè) for water that is cold and clear. It is not common in everyday speech but is often used in poetry or nature descriptions to evoke a vivid, sharp coldness—similar to the English word "biting."

Common words containing 冽 include: 凛冽 (lǐn liè) — piercingly cold; 清冽 (qīng liè) — crystal clear and cold; 冽风 (liè fēng) — biting wind.