How to Write 臃 (yōng) — Meaning “swelling; fat; bloated”

Imagine a person's belly (月) getting bigger and bigger because they ate too much at a crowded banquet (雍, which looks like many people packed together). This visual of a "crowded meat" stomach will help you recall that 臃 means bloated or swelling.

The left radical 月 should be narrow and thin, taking up about one-third of the character's width, while the right part 雍 is taller and more complex. A common mistake is to make the 月 too wide or forget the small horizontal strokes inside it; also ensure the 雍 part has balanced strokes and doesn't get squashed.

臃 (yōng) focuses on bloated or swollen flesh, while 朦 (méng) means dim or hazy and uses the eye radical 目, not 月. 膘 (biāo) refers to animal fat or plumpness and uses the phonetic 票; it is neutral or positive, whereas 臃 is negative, describing something overly bloated or cumbersome.

臃 appears mainly in the word 臃肿 (yōng zhǒng), meaning bloated, fat, or cumbersome, often used for a person's body or for large organizations that are inefficient. For example, 机构臃肿 describes an institution with too many employees, making it slow and inflexible. It carries a strong negative connotation and is not a polite way to describe someone's weight.

Common words containing 臃 include: 臃肿 (yōng zhǒng) — bloated; fat; cumbersome; 臃滞 (yōng zhì) — stagnant; congested; 臃肿不堪 (yōng zhǒng bù kān) — extremely bloated; very cumbersome.