Hangul Syllable Deol

덜 means “less” in Korean: a smaller degree or amount. It sits before a verb or adjective, as in 덜 먹어 (“eat less”) or 덜 익었어 (“not fully ripe or cooked”). It is an ordinary Korean word, not an emoji.

Text symbol

What 덜 means

It means less before the word it modifies. Add 보다 (“than”) when you name the comparison; otherwise context supplies the standard. With completion verbs it can mean “not fully,” as in 덜 익다 (“undercooked”).

An early written form cited is Middle Korean 덜〯 in 1489, in a medical manual for simple home treatment. That documents an early use, not the word’s invention. The through-line is reduction: modern Korean still uses 덜 for a smaller degree.

Neutral Korean degree adverb; it narrows a comparison rather than expressing a mood.

Part of the collection

가

Korean Syllables (Hangul Characters)

Who writes 덜

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Combination ideas

Eat less; reduce the amount you consume.

It is not fully ripe or cooked.

Questions people ask

Why does 덜 show as a box on some devices?

Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.