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潦草 (liáo cǎo) — careless, sloppy; (of handwriting) scrawly, illegible

Definition

Means 'sloppy' — most often of handwriting (字写得很潦草), but also of work done carelessly. Compared with 粗心 (a careless slip) and 草率 (rushing a decision), 潦草 points to the messy end result, not the mindset.

adjective
carelesssloppy(of handwriting) scrawlyillegible

Examples

  • 潦草。
    Tā de zì xiě dé hěn liáo cǎo.
    His handwriting is very scrawly.
  • 潦草，。
    Zhè fèn gōng zuò zuò dé tài liáo cǎo le, xū yào fǎn gōng.
    This work is done too sloppily; it needs to be redone.
  • 潦草，。
    Tā zhǔn bèi dé hěn liáo cǎo, suǒ yǐ kǎo shì méi kǎo hǎo.
    He prepared carelessly, so he didn't do well on the exam.

Origin

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
尞
尞liáo潦lǎo
Same sound today

潦 combines a water part with 尞, which gives the sound liáo.

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
早
早zǎo草cǎo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

草 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 早, which gives the sound. The form originally referred to another word and was later used for the grass sense.

Open 草 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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