凄 qī bitter cold
bitter cold; miserable; dreary
How to remember 凄: 冫 ice + 妻 wife = bitter cold. At dawn on the frozen lake the ice creaks, my wife shivers in the tent and calls our fishing trip bitter cold.
Component breakdown
凄 = 冫 ice + 妻 wife
- 冫 ice
- 妻 wife
- 一 one
- 彐 snout
- 丨 stick
- 女 woman
At dawn on the frozen lake the ice creaks, my wife shivers in the tent and calls our fishing trip bitter cold.
How it is used
- Bleak and mournful - cold desolation or sorrow - 凄凉 (qīliáng) desolate/forlorn, 凄惨 (qīcǎn) wretched, 凄美 (qīměi) sadly beautiful.
- An emotional/aesthetic word for melancholy scenes and feelings, common in literature and lyrics.
- Note the 凄 root pairs 'cold' + 'grief' - a chill that is as much of the heart as the weather.