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不力 (bú lì) — not doing one's best; not exerting oneself; inept (in performance)

Definition

不力 describes a performance or measure that was weak or ineffective — the effort was lacking, not the person. 乏力 points to the agent lacking ability or energy; 懒惰 is about being unwilling to act.

adjective
not doing one's bestnot exerting oneselfinept (in performance)

Examples

  • 不力，。
    Yóu yú guǎn lǐ bú lì, zhè ge xiàng mù shī bài le.
    Due to poor management, this project failed.
  • 不力，。
    Tā zài gōng zuò zhōng biǎo xiàn bú lì, yīn cǐ bèi jiàng zhí le.
    He underperformed at work and was therefore demoted.
  • 不力。
    Zhè cì shì gù de yuán yīn zhī yī shì ān quán cuò shī bú lì.
    One of the reasons for this accident was inadequate safety measures.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

不bùnot
力lìeffort

不 gives not, and 力 gives effort, so it means not putting forth effort.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

力 is drawn as either an arm bending out from the side of the body or a wooden plough.

Open 力 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Good & Bad

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