劣马 (liè mǎ) — inferior horse, nag; vicious or fiery horse

Definition

Literary/literary-style noun for a low-quality or untamed horse. Almost always used in idiomatic or figurative writing (e.g. 劣马...对比 patterns), not in everyday speech.

noun
inferior horsenagvicious or fiery horse
Measure word · 匹
Easily confused

Examples

  • 劣马，。
    Zhè pǐ liè mǎ pǎo de màn, bú shì hé bǐ sài.
    This nag runs slowly and isn't suitable for races.
  • ，劣马。
    Gǔ dài zhàn chǎng shàng, liè mǎ cháng cháng bǐ wēn shùn de mǎ gèng yǒu chōng jī lì.
    On ancient battlefields, fierce horses often had more impact than docile ones.
  • 劣马。
    Tā qí de nà pǐ liè mǎ hěn nán xùn fú.
    The fiery horse he rode was very hard to tame.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

劣lièinferior
马mǎhorse

劣 means inferior and 马 means horse, so the horse is poor in quality.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

劣 combines 少 (little/less) with 力 (strength), showing less strength, hence bad or inferior.

Open 劣 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

Open 马 →

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