How to Write 裼 (tì/xī) — Meaning “to bare the shoulder; a thin garment”

Imagine a person wearing a thin shirt (衤) that is so easy (易) to slip off that they just pull it down to bare one shoulder. The right side 易 looks like a sun over a waving flag, reminding you of warm weather when you would wear only a thin garment.

The left radical 衤 has a dot on top and a short horizontal stroke under it; do not confuse it with 礻 (the spirit radical). The right side 易 has a sun (日) on top with a horizontal line through it, but the bottom is 勿 (wu) which has three slanted strokes — make sure the last stroke is a hook, not a straight line.

裼 (tì) means 'to bare the shoulder' or 'a thin garment,' while 袱 (fú) means a cloth bundle or wrapper, and 袴 (kù) means trousers or pants. Visually, 裼 has 易 on the right, 袱 has 伏 (fú), and 袴 has 夸 (kuà) — each right side gives different pronunciations and meanings.

裼 is very rare in daily conversation; you mostly find it in classical texts or idioms like 袒裼 (tǎn tì, to strip to the waist) and 袒裼裸裎 (tǎn xī luǒ chéng, to be completely naked). It is not part of the HSK vocabulary, so you may only encounter it when reading ancient literature or historical descriptions.

Common words containing 裼 include: 袒裼 (tǎn tì) — To strip to the waist; 裼衣 (tì yī) — a thin outer garment; 袒裼裸裎 (tǎn xī luǒ chéng) — To be stark naked.