餮 meaning and stroke order
Glutton, greedy person; insatiable dragon
How to write 餮, stroke by stroke
18 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 餮
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (literary) greedy; gluttonous
How 餮 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Eat.
食 gives the meaning and 殄 hints at the sound.
Radical: 食 (food), shared by 12 characters on this site.
How to remember 餮
On top is 殄 (tiǎn), which gives the sound and means to wipe out, and below is 食 (shí), food. Picture someone who wipes out every bit of food in sight, a true glutton.
餮 almost never appears alone. It shows up in the word 饕餮 (tāotiè), the name of a greedy mythical beast whose face decorates ancient bronze vessels, and a playful word for a big eater. Example: 他是个老饕餮。(Tā shì gè lǎo tāotiè.) He is a real glutton.
Common mistake: Learners often write the bottom as the side form 饣, but here 食 sits underneath in its full form, just as in 饕. Also keep the tone falling, tiè, not the third tone tiǎn of its phonetic part 殄.
Common words with 餮
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 饕餮 | tāotiè | ferocious mythological animal, the fifth son of the dragon king; zoomorphic mask motif, fo |
Questions about 餮
How many strokes are in 餮?
餮 is written with 18 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 餮 mean?
餮 (tiè) means glutton, greedy person; insatiable dragon. A common word with it is 饕餮 (tāotiè), meaning "ferocious mythological animal, the fifth son of the dragon king; zoomorphic mask motif, fo".
How do you pronounce 餮?
餮 is pronounced tiè, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 餮?
The radical of 餮 is 食, which carries the idea of "food". Dictionaries list 餮 under this radical.
What is a 饕餮 on Chinese bronzes?
It is a mask-like animal face found on many ancient bronze vessels. In legend 饕餮 is a ferocious, insatiable creature, sometimes called the fifth son of the dragon king.
Can 饕餮 describe a food lover in modern Chinese?
Yes. People use it in a light, often humorous way for someone who loves eating, and you may see phrases like 饕餮大餐 (tāotiè dàcān) for a lavish feast.