褪 (tuì): to take off (clothes)

Meanings

1 to take off (clothes)
2 to shed (feathers)
3 (of color) to fade
4 (of emotions) to fade

Characters

褪

tuì

to fade; to shed; to take off

Examples

这件衣服洗了几次就褪色了。

Zhè jiàn yīfu xǐ le jǐ cì jiù tuìsè le.

This piece of clothing faded after being washed a few times.

Tips

usage

Most commonly seen in 褪色 (tuìsè, to fade in color). Also pronounced tùn in some regional usages meaning 'to slip out of something' or 'to hide something in one's sleeve.'

Components

radical

衤 yī

clothing (radical form of 衣)

Left clothing radical — five strokes, the side-form of 衣. Anchors the meaning: 褪 originally describes taking off clothes, then generalizes to any kind of shedding (feathers, color, emotion). Indexes 褪 in the garment family with 衫 shirt, 裤 trousers, 袋 bag, 裸 naked.

phonetic

退 tuì

retreat; withdraw

Right 退 supplies the sound tuì with no drift, plus a strong semantic bonus: 退 itself means 'to retreat, withdraw,' which fits the action perfectly. To 褪 a coat is for the garment to retreat from the body; for color or emotion to 褪 is for it to withdraw and leave a faded trace. Sound and meaning lock together cleanly.