赖 (lài) — (verb) to rely on; to depend on; (verb) to renege on; to deny responsibility; to falsely blame; (adjective) dishonest; shameless
Definition
赖 has two unrelated sets of meanings: as a verb, 'rely on' or 'blame/renege on'; as an adjective, 'shameless.' The adjective sense is closer to 无耻 than to 错 (which means factually wrong).
verb
to rely onto depend onto renege onto deny responsibilityto falsely blame
adjective
dishonestshameless
Examples
- 赖。Tā bǎ zì jǐ de cuò wù lài dào bié rén tóu shàng.He put the blame for his own mistake on someone else.
- ，。Dā ying de shì jiù yào zuò dào, bù néng lài zhàng.If you promised something, you have to do it — don't renege on the debt.
- ，。Tā zhè rén hěn lài pí, shū le qí hái yào gǎi guī zé.He's such a shameless person — when he loses at chess he tries to change the rules.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 賴; 赖 is its simplified writing.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
剌
剌là賴lài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
The traditional form 賴 uses 貝 (a cowry) for profit and 剌 for the sound; the simplified 赖 is a shorthand.
Appears in
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