How to Write 絮 (xù) — Meaning “cotton wadding; long-winded”

Picture a long-winded person (如) talking nonstop, with threads of cotton (糸) coming out of their mouth because their words are as fluffy and endless as wadding. This links the meaning of 'cotton wadding' to the idea of being 'long-winded' in one image.

The top part 糹 (糸 in its left-side form) has three strokes: a left-slanting stroke, a horizontal, and a small hook; be careful not to make it too wide. The bottom 如 has a balanced structure with 女 on the left and 口 on the right, and the overall character is slightly taller than it is wide.

紊 (wěn) means 'disorderly' and contains 文 (pattern) instead of 如, so it describes tangled threads as chaos. 素 (sù) means 'plain, white' and has a different lower part (糸 with a dot variation), referring to uncolored silk. In contrast, 絮 specifically means soft fiber or being wordy, and its lower part 如 is unique.

絮 appears in words like 棉絮 (cotton wadding for quilts) and 柳絮 (willow catkins that float in spring). It is also used for annoying chattering with 絮叨 (xù dāo), often describing someone who repeats themselves endlessly, a trait sometimes humorously compared to the drifting of catkins.

Common words containing 絮 include: 棉絮 (mián xù) — cotton wadding or fiber; 柳絮 (liǔ xù) — willow catkins; 絮叨 (xù dāo) — to chatter; to be long-winded.