How to Write 蜻 (qīng) — Meaning “Dragonfly”

Imagine a green (青) insect (虫) — specifically a dragonfly hovering above water. The color green matches the common color of dragonflies, and the insect radical reminds you that it is a bug.

Write the left radical 虫 first, making sure the final stroke (the dot) is placed neatly. Then write the right part 青, keeping the top horizontal lines even and the lower 月 component narrow—avoid making it too wide or squishing the two halves together.

蜻 means dragonfly and uses the 青 phonetic. 蛐 (qū) is used in 蛐蛐 (cricket) and has 曲 as its phonetic part. 蛑 (móu) appears in 梭子蟹 (swimming crab) and has 牟 as its phonetic—notice the different right-side components and remember that each represents a different insect or creature.

蜻 is almost always used in the word 蜻蜓 (dragonfly), often to describe the insect itself. The phrase 蜻蜓点水 (literally "dragonfly skimming the water surface") is a common idiom meaning to do something lightly or superficially, like touching on a topic without going deep.

Common words containing 蜻 include: 蜻蜓 (qīng tíng) — Dragonfly; 蜻蜓点水 (qīng tíng diǎn shuǐ) — Dragonfly skimming the water surface; 小蜻蜓 (xiǎo qīng tíng) — Small dragonfly.