滥 (làn) — overflowing, flooding (as in 泛滥); excessive, immoderate, indiscriminate (as in 滥用, 滥交); trite, hackneyed (as in 陈词滥调)

Definition

Bound morpheme meaning 'excessive / indiscriminate' (滥用 abuse, 泛滥 flood). Carries a negative judgment of excess or lack of standards, unlike neutral plentiful words.

bound form
overflowingflooding (as in 泛滥)excessiveimmoderateindiscriminate (as in 滥用, 滥交)tritehackneyed (as in 陈词滥调)
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，。
    Hé shuǐ fàn làn, yān mò le nóng tián.
    The river overflowed and flooded the farmland.
  • 。
    Bù néng làn yòng zhí quán móu qǔ sī lì.
    You must not abuse your power for personal gain.
  • ，。
    Tā de yǎn jiǎng quán shì chén cí làn diào, háo wú xīn yì.
    His speech was full of clichés and had no originality.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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 濫; 滥 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
監
監jiān濫làn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 濫 pairs 水, water, with 監 to give the sound; the simplified 滥 is a later shorthand.

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