How to Write 暮 (mù) — Meaning “evening; sunset; late”

Think of 莫 as "don't" and 日 as "sun" — so "Don't let the sun go down!" but it's already dark, meaning evening. Another trick: picture the sun (日) sinking into the grass (the top 艹 in 莫) as twilight arrives.

The top part 莫 has 10 strokes, including a horizontal stroke across the 大 that should not be too long. The bottom 日 should be narrow and centered beneath the 莫, not too wide. A common mistake is making the 日 too large or misplacing the short horizontal strokes inside 莫.

暮 means "evening" or "late," while 㬎 (xiǎn) is a rare character meaning "bright sunlight" or "to display," and 晬 (zuì) means "one year old" or "a child's first birthday." Visually, 暮 has the 莫 component on top, whereas 㬎 has three 日 stacked, and 晬 has 日 on the left with 卒 on the right.

暮 appears in common words like 暮色 (mù sè, twilight), 迟暮 (chí mù, old age), and 暮气 (mù qì, lethargy). It often carries a poetic or melancholic feeling, describing the end of a day or the later stages of life, and is used in literature to create a calm or sorrowful mood.

Common words containing 暮 include: 暮色 (mù sè) — twilight; dusk; 迟暮 (chí mù) — late in life; 暮气 (mù qì) — lethargy; listlessness; spiritless.