How to Write 眢 (yuān) — Meaning “dried up; sunken”

Imagine an eye (目) that looks like a dried-up well — the bottom part 夗 resembles a person slumping downward, as if the eye has sunk inward. Think of the pinyin 'yuān' sounding like 'you are not' full of water, so the eye is empty and sunken.

Write the 目 radical first with 5 strokes, then the bottom 夗 with 5 strokes: start with a left-falling stroke, then a horizontal hook, a vertical hook that curves left, a dot, and finally another horizontal hook. A common mistake is making the bottom part too wide or tall — keep it compact and centered under 目.

盱 (xū) means to stare with wide eyes and has 目 on the left with 于 on the right, while 盲 (máng) means blind and places 亡 (death) above 目. In contrast, 眢 (yuān) has 目 on top and 夗 below, and its meaning is "sunken" or "dried up" — it describes the shape of the eye, not its function or condition of blindness.

眢 is very rare in daily conversation and mostly appears in classical or literary texts, such as the word 眢井 (dry well) to describe something hollow or hopeless. You may also see it in medical or poetic descriptions of sunken eyes (眢眼), but it is not part of common modern vocabulary.

Common words containing 眢 include: 眢井 (yuān jǐng) — dry well; 眢眼 (yuān yǎn) — sunken eyes; 眢枯 (yuān kū) — dried up; withered.