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匮乏 (kuì fá) — deficient, lacking (in supplies or resources)

Definition

Formal written adjective meaning 'deficient, scarce' — used for resources and supplies, especially in academic or journalistic writing. Stronger than 缺少, which is the everyday spoken word for 'lacking'.

adjective
deficientlacking (in supplies or resources)

Examples

  • 匮乏，。
    Yóu yú zī yuán kuì fá, tā men bù dé bù jiǎn shǎo shēng chǎn.
    Due to a shortage of resources, they had to reduce production.
  • 匮乏。
    Zhè ge dì qū cháng qī miàn lín shuǐ zī yuán kuì fá de wèn tí.
    This region has long faced the problem of water scarcity.
  • 匮乏，。
    Zài shí wù kuì fá de qíng kuàng xià, rén men kāi shǐ xún zhǎo xīn de shí wù lái yuán.
    In a situation of food shortage, people began to look for new food sources.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

匮kuìlacking
乏fálacking

匮 and 乏 both mean lacking, so together they stress a shortage.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 匱; 匮 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
匚匚fāngcabinet
Sound part声符shēngfú
貴
貴guì匱kuì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 匱 pairs a cabinet 匚 with 貴, which gives the sound; the simplified 匮 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the original parts.

Open 匮 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 乏 →
Appears in
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