褐 (hè): brown, gray or dark color, coarse hemp cloth

褐 (hè) is a Chinese character meaning “brown.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 衤 (semantic) and 曷 (phonetic). It ranks #2663 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 褐 cloth. Its radical form 衤 (clothing) appears in many related characters such as 衣 (yī, clothing), 被 (bèi, quilt, by), 装 (zhuāng, dress, install).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. brown
  2. gray or dark color
  3. coarse hemp cloth

Etymology & Origin

褐

pictophoneticcloth

Decomposition: ⿰衤曷 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Practice writing 褐 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
褐色nounhè sèbrown
黄褐色huáng hè sètan (color)
赤褐色nounchì hè sèrusset
黄褐斑nounhuáng hè bānchloasma
褐背地山雀hè bèi dì shān què(bird species of China) ground tit (Pseudopodoces humilis)
褐马鸡nounhè mǎ jī(bird species of China) brown eared pheasant (Crossoptilon mantchuricum)
茶褐色nounchá hè sèdark brown
褐头山雀hè tóu shān què(bird species of China) willow tit (Poecile montanus)
川褐头山雀chuān hè tóu shān què(bird species of China) Sichuan tit (Poecile weigoldicus)
褐头鸫hè tóu dōng(bird species of China) grey-sided thrush (Turdus feae)
褐头鹀hè tóu wú(bird species of China) red-headed bunting (Emberiza bruniceps)
褐河乌hè hé wū(bird species of China) brown dipper (Cinclus pallasii)
褐林鸮hè lín xiāo(bird species of China) brown wood owl (Strix leptogrammica)
褐头凤鹛hè tóu fèng méi(bird species of China) Taiwan yuhina (Yuhina brunneiceps)
褐胸山鹧鸪hè xiōng shān zhè gū(bird species of China) bar-backed partridge (Arborophila brunneopectus)
49
Total compounds
78
As first character
2
As last character
20
As middle character

褐 appears in 49 compound words: 78 as the first character, 2 as the last, and 20 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Example Sentences

少数派Sep 2026

黄褐色的底色上分布着一连串深色斑纹,在落叶和泥土之间其实很难发现。

huáng hè sè de dǐ sè shàng fēn bù zhe yī lián chuàn shēn sè bān wén , zài luò yè hé ní tǔ zhī jiān qí shí hěn nán fā xiàn .

A series of dark markings are scattered across its yellowish-brown background, making it quite difficult to spot among the fallen leaves and soil.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

按蚊身体呈灰褐色,多在夜间活动,是疟疾的唯一传播媒介。

àn wén shēn tǐ chéng huī hè sè , duō zài yè jiān huó dòng , shì 疟 jí de wéi yī chuán bō méi jiè .

Anopheles mosquitoes are grayish-brown in color, are mostly active at night, and are the sole vectors of malaria.

少数派Aug 2026

关灯状态下,灯罩颜色呈现和胡桃木色相近的茶褐色,放在家里是一个和谐的装饰品。

guān dēng zhuàng tài xià , dēng zhào yán sè chéng xiàn hé hú táo mù sè xiāng jìn de chá hè sè , fàng zài jiā lǐ shì yī gè hé xié de zhuāng shì pǐn .

When the light is off, the lampshade has a tea-brown color similar to walnut, making it a harmonious decorative piece for your home.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

在平静状态下,它们的颜色较为柔和,通常是黄褐色或灰色。

zài píng jìng zhuàng tài xià , tā men de yán sè jiào wéi róu hé , tōng cháng shì huáng hè sè huò huī sè .

When calm, their colors are relatively muted, typically yellowish-brown or gray.

中国新闻网·生活Jul 2026

一根根细长挺立的孢囊密集丛生,整体呈细棒状,高度大概1-3厘米,呈黑色或暗褐色。

yī gēn gēn xì cháng tǐng lì de bāo náng mì jí cóng shēng , zhěng tǐ chéng xì bàng zhuàng , gāo dù dà gài 1 3 lí mǐ , chéng hēi sè huò àn hè sè .

Slender, upright spores grow in dense clusters, forming a thin, rod-like structure approximately 1–3 centimeters tall, which is black or dark brown in color.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 衤 (cloth) component

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 褐 (hè) mean in Chinese?
褐 (hè) primarily means "brown." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #2663 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 褐 and 灯?
褐 (hè) and 灯 (dēng) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 褐 (dark) vs 灯 (light).
How many strokes does 褐 have?
褐 is written with 14 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 褐?
The radical associated with 褐 is 衤 (clothing). This radical appears in many characters related to clothing.
What are the components of 褐?
褐 is composed of: 衤 (semantic), 曷 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰衤曷 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 褐?
Common words with 褐 include: 褐色 (hè sè, "brown"); 黄褐色 (huáng hè sè, "tan (color)"); 赤褐色 (chì hè sè, "russet"); 黄褐斑 (huáng hè bān, "chloasma"); 褐背地山雀 (hè bèi dì shān què, "(bird species of China) ground tit (Pseudopodoces humilis)"). There are over 49 compound words containing this character.
Is 褐 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 褐 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 褐 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.