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贫乏 (pín fá) — impoverished, lacking, deficient, limited

Definition

Describes abstract things (knowledge, experience, content) that are thin or insufficient — not people's material wealth. 比 有限更强调贫弱空洞；与 穷/贫困/贫穷（人、经济）不同。

adjective
impoverishedlackingdeficientlimited

Examples

  • 贫乏。
    Zhè ge dì qū de zì rán zī yuán fēi cháng pín fá.
    This region's natural resources are very impoverished.
  • 贫乏，。
    Tā de xiǎng xiàng lì pín fá, xiě bù chū hǎo gù shi.
    His imagination is lacking; he can't write good stories.
  • 贫乏，。
    Zhè běn shū nèi róng pín fá, bù zhí dé mǎi.
    This book's content is deficient; it's not worth buying.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

贫pínpoor; lacking
乏fálacking; deficient

贫 means poor, and 乏 means lacking, so 贫乏 describes being poor and deficient.

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 貧; 贫 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèimoney
Sound part声符shēngfú
分
分fēn貧pín
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 貧 has 分 above 貝, a money part. 分 gives the sound and means 'divide', giving the image of dividing one's money; the simplified 贫 is a later shorthand.

Open 贫 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 乏 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract ConceptsGood & Bad

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