累 (lèi) is a Chinese character meaning “tired”. It is written from 田 (field; farmland) and 糸 (silk; a twisted bundle of fine threads), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes. It has a second reading, lěi, which turns up in 积累 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “tired”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
田 + 糸
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: IDS ⿱田糸 (modern glyph), verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke order: strokes 0–4 = 田, 5–10 = 糸
Memory aid
Work the field (田) all day, then spin thread (糸) all night — no wonder you're tired.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 劳累láo lèitired; worn out; to overwork累 = lèi
Go deeper
All readings
tired
tired; weary; to tire; to overwork
疲劳；使疲劳。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 劳累láo lèitired; worn out; to overwork累 = lèi
to accumulate
to accumulate; to pile up; repeated
积聚；连续多次。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 积累jī lěito accumulate; to build up累 = lěiHSK 5
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 累 mean?
累 (lèi) means tired; weary; to tire; to overwork.
How do you pronounce 累?
Its main reading is lèi. It also has a second reading, lěi, which only shows up in certain words such as 积累 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 累 sometimes pronounced lěi?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 积累 it is read lěi.
What parts is 累 made of?
田 (field; farmland) and 糸 (silk; a twisted bundle of fine threads), one above the other. The recorded source is: IDS ⿱田糸 (modern glyph), verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke order: strokes 0–4 = 田, 5–10 = 糸. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 累 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 累?
糸. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 累?
Common ones are 劳累. The reading of 累 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.