Chinese symbol for “withered”
枯
kū
(of plants) withered; (of wells, rivers etc) dried up; (bound form) dull; boring; (bound form) residue of pressed oilseeds
The closest CC-CEDICT match for withered is 枯 (kū), defined as: (of plants) withered; (of wells, rivers etc) dried up; (bound form) dull; boring; (bound form) residue of pressed oilseeds.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Other Chinese words for “withered”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 凋零 | diāo líng | withered; wilted |
| 干枯 (乾枯) | gān kū | withered; shriveled; dried-up |
| 凋 | diāo | withered |
| 枯槁 | kū gǎo | (of vegetation) withered; (of a person) haggard |
| 憔悴 | qiáo cuì | wan and sallow; thin and pallid |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 枯.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 枯竭 | kū jié | used up; dried up |
| 枯燥 | kū zào | dry and dull; uninteresting; tedious |
| 枯萎 | kū wěi | to wilt; to wither |
| 干枯 (乾枯) | gān kū | withered; shriveled; dried-up |
| 枯死 | kū sǐ | (of a plant) to wither and die; withered and dead |
| 枯木 | kū mù | dead tree |
See also: Japanese symbol for “withered”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.