How to Write 瘟 (wēn) — Meaning “plague; epidemic; pestilence”

Picture a sick person (疒) lying in bed while a warm (温 sounds like 昷) breeze spreads disease through the town. The “warm” feeling reminds you of the pronunciation wēn, and the illness radical reminds you it is a plague. So think “warm plague” to link sound and meaning.

The left radical 疒 has a dot on top, then a horizontal stroke with a downward hook, followed by two dots inside. On the right, 昷 has a sun (日) on top and a bowl-like shape (皿) below—make sure the sun is not too big and the bowl is centered. A common mistake is making the right side too tall; keep both sides balanced around the middle.

痘 (dòu) means “pox” or “smallpox,” referring to specific blister-like skin diseases, while 痛 (tòng) means “pain” or “aching.” 瘟 specifically means a contagious epidemic that spreads rapidly, like the plague. Visually, 痘 uses the phonetic component 豆 (bean), 痛 uses 甬 (yǒng), and 瘟 uses 昷—so the right side is the key differentiator.

瘟 appears in words like 瘟疫 (plague/epidemic) and 猪瘟 (swine fever). Culturally, 瘟神 is the “God of Plague” and is also used as a metaphor for someone who brings bad luck or trouble. In everyday speech, you might hear people jokingly call a very unlucky person a 瘟神 to say they should be avoided.

Common words containing 瘟 include: 瘟疫 (wēn yì) — plague; epidemic; 猪瘟 (zhū wēn) — swine fever; hog cholera; 瘟神 (wēn shén) — god of plague; a person to be avoided.