嶙峋 (lín xún) — (adjective) craggy, rugged, jagged (of terrain, rocks, mountains); (adjective) bony, skin-and-bones (of a person's physique); (adjective) upright, lofty, having moral integrity (of a person's character)

Definition

A literary adjective used almost only in the set phrases 瘦骨嶙峋 (skinny, skin-and-bones) and 骨骼/岩石/山石嶙峋 (jagged, craggy), plus 风骨嶙峋 for upright character. Avoid using it as a standalone predicate.

adjective
craggyruggedjagged (of terrain, rocks, mountains)bonyskin-and-bones (of a person's physique)uprightloftyhaving moral integrity (of a person's character)

Examples

  • 嶙峋，。
    Zhè zuò shān de yán shí lín xún, fēi cháng xiǎn jùn.
    The rocks of this mountain are jagged and very steep.
  • ，。
    Tā shòu gǔ lín xún, yí kàn jiù shì cháng qī shēng bìng.
    He is all skin and bones, clearly sick for a long time.
  • 嶙峋，。
    Zhè wèi lǎo rén fēng gǔ lín xún, shēn shòu dà jiā zūn jìng.
    This elderly man has a lofty and upright character, deeply respected by everyone.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

嶙lín
峋xún

嶙 and 峋 carry no meaning of their own here; together they describe jagged or bony appearance.

Sound-only characters

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
山山shānmountain
Sound part声符shēngfú
粦
粦lín嶙
Same sound today

嶙 combines 山 (mountain) with 粦, which gives a clue to the sound.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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