低劣 (dī liè) — inferior, low-grade | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A strongly negative adjective meaning 'inferior, shoddy,' used to condemn quality, conduct, or character. More forceful than common words like 差 or 不好.

adjective

inferiorlow-grade

Examples

低劣。
Zhè zhǒng chǎn pǐn de zhì liàng fēi cháng dī liè.
The quality of this product is very inferior.
低劣。
Tā dī liè de xíng wéi ràng rén wú fǎ yuán liàng.
His inferior behavior is unforgivable.
低劣。
Zhè xiē cái liào bǐ nà xiē gèng dī liè.
These materials are even lower quality than those.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

低 for low and 劣 for bad combine to mean inferior.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

亻氐低

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénman, person

Sound part声符shēngfú

氐

氐dī低dī

Same sound today

In 低, the left side 亻 is a person, and the right side 氐 gives the sound; the image is a person lowering or bowing themselves.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

少力劣

少少shǎolittle, less
力力lìstrength

劣 combines 少 (little/less) with 力 (strength), showing less strength, hence bad or inferior.

Appears in

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