How to Write 疰 (zhù) — Meaning “chronic illness”

Imagine a "master" (主) who takes control of your body and gives you a long-term sickness — the illness radical 疒 shows it's a disease. So 疰 becomes the "master sickness" that won't leave, helping you recall its meaning of chronic illness.

When writing 疰, be careful with the radical 疒: stroke order is dot, horizontal, left-falling, dot, lift. The right part 主 starts with a dot on top, not a horizontal line — a common mistake is confusing it with 玉 (jade) which has no top dot. Keep the two parts balanced, with the radical slightly narrower.

疰 means chronic illness or specific conditions like summer fever or motion sickness, while 疙 (gē) refers to a lump or pimple on the skin, and 疚 (jiù) means guilt or remorse. Visually, 疰 has 主 (master) on the right, 疙 has 乞 (beg), and 疚 has 久 (long time). Each has a different component changing the meaning.

疰 is not common in everyday speech but appears in specific words like 疰夏 (zhù xià, summer fever, a traditional Chinese concept of heat-related illness), 疰船 (zhù chuán, seasickness), and 疰车 (zhù chē, carsickness). It is mostly used in medical or dialectal contexts, often describing chronic or environmentally triggered discomfort.

Common words containing 疰 include: 疰夏 (zhù xià) — summer fever; 疰船 (zhù chuán) — seasickness; 疰车 (zhù chē) — carsickness.