How to Write 餮 (tiè) — Meaning “gluttonous (character used in Taotie)”

Imagine a greedy beast (like the Taotie) with a huge food stomach on the left (食) and a mouth on the right that devours everything (殄 looks like a mouth with teeth). This mental picture links the character's shape to its meaning of gluttony.

Write the left radical 食 first, keeping it narrow and balanced; then add the right side 殄, which starts with a 歹 shape at the top. A common mistake is making the right side too wide or confusing the bottom of 殄 with similar components—remember the last strokes of 殄 are two short lines (㐱-like).

餮 is only used in compounds like 饕餮 (gluttony) and never means 'meal', while 餐 is common in everyday words like 午餐 (lunch) and 餐厅 (restaurant). Visually, 餮 has 食 on the left side, but 餐 has 食 at the bottom, with a different top part (歺).

餮 appears almost exclusively in the word 饕餮 (tāo tiè), which refers to a greedy mythical beast or, figuratively, a glutton. It is also used in literary phrases like 饕餮大餐 (a sumptuous feast) and 饕餮纹 (an ancient bronze pattern). This character is not in HSK and is mainly encountered in classical texts or historical art descriptions.

Common words containing 餮 include: 饕餮 (tāo tiè) — glutton; a mythical beast known for its greed; a feast; 饕餮大餐 (tāo tiè dà cān) — a sumptuous feast; a banquet; 饕餮纹 (tāo tiè wén) — Taotie motif (ancient bronze pattern).