寥寥 (liáo liáo) — very few, scanty, sparse
Definition
寥寥 is a bound adverbial form that only appears in set phrases (寥寥无几, 寥寥数语) to emphasize how few or sparse something is — not used alone.
bound form
very fewscantysparse
Examples
- ，。Huì chǎng lǐ liáo liáo wú jǐ, zhǐ yǒu shí jǐ gè rén.There were very few people in the venue — only a dozen or so.
- 寥寥。Tā zhǐ yòng liáo liáo shù yǔ jiù jiě shì qīng chǔ le.He explained it clearly with just a few brief words.
- 寥寥，。Shā mò zhōng liáo liáo jǐ kē kū shù, xiǎn de gé wài huāng liáng.A few withered trees in the desert looked especially desolate.
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