How to Write 髅 (lóu) — Meaning “skull”

Picture the right part 娄 as a skull face with two dot eyes and a large mouth shape below, saying 'LOU.' Then remember the left radical 骨 means bone, so this is a 'bone face' — a skull. This visual trick links the shape to the meaning.

The left radical 骨 is narrow and tall, and its stroke order starts with the top part (冎), then the vertical hook, then the inner 月-like shape. The right part 娄 has a compact 米 on top and a 女 below; common mistakes include making the left side too wide or mixing up the strokes of 骨.

All three share the bone radical 骨, but their right sides differ: 髅 has 娄 (lóu), 髀 has 卑 (bēi), and 髁 has 果 (guǒ). Meaning-wise, 髅 refers only to skull or skeleton, while 髀 means thighbone and 髁 means hipbone or kneecap. The different phonetic components change both pronunciation and specific bone meaning.

髅 is almost never used alone; it appears in the compound 骷髅 (kū lóu), meaning skeleton or skull. This word is common in horror stories, Halloween decorations, or medical contexts, and also appears in Buddhist art as a symbol of mortality. The character alone is very rare outside this compound.

Common words containing 髅 include: 骷髅 (kū lóu) — skeleton; 骷髅头 (kū lóu tóu) — skull; 骷髅画 (kū lóu huà) — drawing of a skeleton.