How to Write 微 (wēi) — Meaning “Tiny; slight; micro-.”

Picture a tiny person (彳) climbing a small mountain (山) with one step (一) onto a small table (几). This visual story of taking a tiny journey can help you recall both the shape and the meaning of 'tiny' or 'micro.'

Pay special attention to the right side: write 山 first, then the horizontal stroke 一 across the middle, and finally 几 at the bottom. A common mistake is making the 彳 radical too wide or forgetting the small horizontal line inside the right part.

微 shares the radical 彳 with 得 and 徘, but 微 has a complex right side with 山 and 几, while 得 has 日 and 一寸 on the right, and 徘 has 非 (two rows of lines) on the right. Visually, 微 looks more crowded; in meaning, 微 means 'tiny' while 得 means 'to get' and 徘 means 'to wander.'

微 is very common in everyday vocabulary, such as 微笑 (wēi xiào, 'smile') and 微信 (wēi xìn, WeChat, the popular messaging app). It appears in many technical terms like 微博 (wēi bó, 'microblog') and 微型 (wēi xíng, 'miniature'), so you will see it a lot in both casual and formal contexts.

Common words containing 微 include: 微笑 (wēi xiào) — smile; 微信 (wēi xìn) — WeChat.; 微小 (wēi xiǎo) — tiny; minute.