Similar Kanji, 衣脚 edition

Four Chinese characters that I regularly confuse have a 衣 radical at the bottom (ja: したごろも). The radical 衣 on its own signifies something related to clothing. The four characters have nothing to do with clothing, though.

Here are the characters and some Japanese example sentences:

• 哀: 哀れなやつだ - what a poor fellow!¹
• 喪: 資格を喪失した - someone lost their qualification²
• 衷: 両者の意見を折衷する - compromise between two opinions³
• 畏: はい、畏まりました ｰ Yes, I understood [your order]⁴

Researching example sentences and looking at where exactly Chinese characters differ helps memorize. I've attached this picture to my Anki card for 哀れ too, in case I forget it during my reviews.