How to Write 暡 (wěng) — Meaning “dim; cloudy; obscure”

Picture an old man (翁) holding a dim, cloudy sun (日) in his hands — it's so hazy you can barely see it. The phrase 'old man's dim sun' helps connect the components wěng and rì to the meaning 'dim; cloudy.'

Pay attention to the proportions: the left part 日 should be narrow and tall, occupying about one-third of the width, while the right part 翁 is wider. A common mistake is to make the 日 too big or to confuse the top of 翁 (which has 八 and 公) — write the strokes of 翁 carefully, especially the downward stroke of 羽.

Unlike 暡, which means 'dim; cloudy' and is pronounced wěng, the character 晬 (suì) means 'a full year' or 'time after birth' and has the radical 日 with 卒 on the right. The character 㬎 is very rare (often unpronounced) and looks like 暡 but with 日 on top instead of on the left — its meaning is also obscure but not related to haziness like 暡.

暡 is not a common character and does not appear in the HSK vocabulary list. It is mostly found in classical or literary Chinese, especially in poetry, to describe a dim, hazy atmosphere, for example in the word 暡朦 (wěng méng) meaning 'dim and misty.' You are unlikely to encounter it in everyday conversation.

Common words containing 暡 include: 暡暡 (wěng wěng) — dim; hazy; 暡翳 (wěng yì) — obscured; shaded; 暡朦 (wěng méng) — dim and misty; hazy.