How to Write 浊 (zhuó) — Meaning “turbid; muddy; cloudy”

Imagine a glass of clear water with a small bug (虫) floating in it — the water becomes muddy and cloudy, just like the meaning of 浊. This visual of "water (氵) plus a bug" helps you recall that 浊 means turbid or muddy. The bug is a memorable symbol of impurity in the water.

Write the left radical 氵 first as three strokes: dot, dot, lift, keeping it narrow. Then write the right side 虫 with 6 strokes: vertical, horizontal fold, horizontal, vertical, dot — make sure the bottom horizontal of 虫 is slightly shorter than the top one. A common mistake is making the right side too wide or mixing up the stroke order of 虫 (always start with the vertical stroke).

浊 has 虫 on the right, while 㳄 has 欠 (meaning to owe or a yawn shape) and 汧 has 开 (meaning to open). Visually, 浊's right side looks like a small bug, but 㳄's right side resembles a person with an open mouth, and 汧's right side is two horizontal lines with a vertical stroke. In terms of usage, only 浊 means turbid water, while 㳄 is an archaic character for saliva and 汧 is a rare river name.

浊 is used to describe liquids that are not clear, such as 浑浊 (hún zhuó, turbid water) and 污浊 (wū zhuó, dirty air or water). It can also appear metaphorically, for example in phrases like 浊世 (zhuó shì, the corrupt world). Culturally, 浊 is often contrasted with 清 (qīng, clear), representing impurity versus purity in both physical and moral contexts.

Common words containing 浊 include: 浑浊 (hún zhuó) — turbid; muddy; cloudy; 污浊 (wū zhuó) — Dirty / Foul; 浊水 (zhuó shuǐ) — muddy water; turbid water.