How to Write 妹 (mèi) — Meaning “younger sister”

Picture a woman (女) who is 'not yet' (未) an adult – she is your younger sister. The phrase 'a woman not yet grown is a sister' helps link the components to the meaning.

Be careful with the 女 radical: its third stroke is a rising diagonal line, not a horizontal one. Also, the right part 未 has a longer second horizontal stroke than the first, and the left-falling stroke should be written after the two horizontals.

Unlike 妹, 奸 (jiān) has the right component 干 (dry) and means 'wicked' or 'adulterous'. 她 (tā) uses 也 (also) on the right and is the pronoun 'she'. Visually, 妹 has the unique combination of 女 and 未, so focus on the right side to tell them apart.

You use 妹 mainly in words like 妹妹 (mèi mei) for 'younger sister' and 姐妹 (jiě mèi) for 'sisters'. It can also be a suffix for younger female cousins (表妹) and is sometimes used informally for a younger female friend or in online slang like 小姐姐 for 'young lady'.

Common words containing 妹 include: 妹妹 (mèi mèi) — younger sister; 姐妹 (jiě mèi) — sisters; 表妹 (biǎo mèi) — Younger female cousin.