How to Write 褛 (lǚ) — Meaning “tattered; ragged”

Imagine a piece of clothing (衤) that has been worn so many times it looks like a 'loaf' (娄 sounds like 'loaf')—full of holes and tattered. Or picture a woman (娄) trying to mend her torn dress (衤).

The left side 衤 is written with two short strokes (dot and horizontal-left-slant) before the vertical stroke, and the right side 娄 starts with a horizontal stroke, then a vertical stroke down the middle. Keep the height of both sides similar—the right side is slightly wider—and do not make the bottom of 娄 too narrow.

The key difference is the right side: 褛 has 娄 (meaning 'tattered'), 裎 has 呈 (chéng, meaning 'to present' or 'bare'), and 裕 has 谷 (yù, meaning 'valley' or 'abundant'). Visually, 褛's right side is taller and includes a woman radical (女), while 裕 has a mouth and eight-like strokes below.

褛 is almost always used in the two-character word 褴褛 (lán lǚ) to describe very worn, shabby clothing, often in literary or formal descriptions. It is also part of the idiom 衣衫褴褛 (yī shān lán lǚ), meaning 'in rags,' which is used to emphasize poverty or extreme wear.

Common words containing 褛 include: 褴褛 (lán lǚ) — ragged; tattered (clothes); 衣衫褴褛 (yī shān lán lǚ) — In rags / Tattered clothes; 破褛 (pò lǚ) — ragged clothes.