酗 (xù) is a Chinese character meaning “to drink excessively”. It is written from 酉 (wine jar; the tenth earthly branch) and 凶 (inauspicious; fierce), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “to drink to excess”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
酉 + 凶
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS 拆分 ⿰酉凶（构建期候选），Unicode radical 164 (酉)，并以 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 笔画核验：笔画 0–6 与「酉」逐笔对应，笔画 7–10 与「凶」逐笔对应（7+4=11画）；部件表音/表义角色无可追溯来源，留为 unknown
Memory aid
A wine jar (酉) next to something violent and ominous (凶). Both parts are really in this character: too much from the jar turns a drinker rowdy — 酗, to drink to excess.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 酗酒xù jiǔto drink excessively; heavy drinking酗 = xù
Go deeper
All readings
to drink to excess
to drink excessively; to get drunk and behave badly
没有节制地喝酒，喝醉后撒酒疯。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 酗酒xù jiǔto drink excessively; heavy drinking酗 = xù
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 酗 mean?
酗 (xù) means to drink excessively; to get drunk and behave badly.
How do you pronounce 酗?
It is pronounced xù.
What parts is 酗 made of?
酉 (wine jar; the tenth earthly branch) and 凶 (inauspicious; fierce), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS 拆分 ⿰酉凶（构建期候选），Unicode radical 164 (酉)，并以 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 笔画核验：笔画 0–6 与「酉」逐笔对应，笔画 7–10 与「凶」逐笔对应（7+4=11画）；部件表音/表义角色无可追溯来源，留为 unknown. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 酗 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 酗?
酉. 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 酗?
Common ones are 酗酒. The reading of 酗 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.