CJK Character 疲 — Tired

It means tired, exhausted, or worn out.

Its oldest secure explanation is the Shuowen gloss “to be weary”: 疒 gives the illness-or-exhaustion side and 皮 gives the sound. That is a semantic-phonetic build, not a picture with one inventor. The opened character records do not establish an oracle-bone or bronze first appearance for 疲, so do not treat its computer encoding date as its birthday.

Meaning then widened. A 2014 study of fatigue words places 疲 beside 倦, 乏, 勞, 困 and others: 疲 dominated Old through Middle Chinese, while 累 became the dominant modern term. Classical uses also stretch 疲 toward weakness, hardship, decline, and stopping.

What does 疲 mean when someone sends it?

Read it as fatigue first; the surrounding word supplies the shade.

In Chinese, 疲 signals strength worn down by exertion; 疲劳 or 疲勞 covers physical or mental depletion and can also mean metal weakened after prolonged force. Read the whole phrase, not the single character in isolation.

In Japanese, 疲れた is the familiar “I’m wiped out” line, though it has the shape of the completed form of 疲れる, “to become tired.” 疲れている leans harder on the lingering state. The difference is grammar, not a different feeling.

Why does 疲 appear in お疲れ様?

Here it marks acknowledgment, not a diagnosis of fatigue.

As described in a 2024 account of Japanese usage, お疲れ様 recognizes another person's exertion or depleted state. It works as a workplace hello or sign-off, but it is not an all-purpose thanks: when someone directly benefits you, a plain thank-you is safer.

The habit is not uniform. A 1998 Tokyo survey found broad approval for saying お疲れさまでした to a boss among younger and middle-aged people, with lower support among older respondents and more favorable answers from women. Shared work makes it safest; a one-off favor calls for thanks.