How to Write 虱 (shī) — Meaning “Louse”

Imagine a tiny insect (虫) sitting on a windblown branch (丂) — that branch is like a hair or piece of clothing where a louse hides. The left side is the bug, and the right side looks like a bent twig. Picture the louse gripping the twig tightly to remember the shape.

Note that the left radical 虫 is written slightly narrower than the right part 丂, and the bottom horizontal stroke of 虫 should align with the middle of 丂. A common mistake is making the right side too wide or forgetting the small vertical hook inside 虫. Keep strokes compact and balanced.

虫 is a standalone character meaning "insect" and is a radical, while 虱 specifically means "louse" and has an extra right part. 虬 (qiú) means "young dragon" and uses a different right component (丩), not 丂. So 虱 looks like 虫 plus a bent line, while 虬 looks like 虫 plus a twisted knot.

虱 appears mainly in the common word 虱子 (shī zi) meaning "louse," especially head lice. It is also used in 木虱 (mù shī) for woodlouse. The character is not common in daily conversation except when discussing parasites, but it appears in traditional medicine and pest control contexts.

Common words containing 虱 include: 虱子 (shī zi) — Louse; 木虱 (mù shī) — woodlouse; 虱 (shī) — Louse.