庸才 (yōng cái) — mediocre person; mediocrity (of a person)

Definition

庸才 (yōngcái) is a formal, disparaging word for a person of mediocre or ordinary ability — stronger and more literary than the everyday 普通人. Usually used to criticize, not to describe neutrally.

noun
mediocre personmediocrity (of a person)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 庸才，。
    Tā bú guò shì yí gè yōng cái, bù zhí dé zhòng yòng.
    He is nothing but a mediocre person, not worth entrusting with important tasks.
  • 庸才，。
    Gōng sī lǐ jìn shì xiē yōng cái, méi yǒu zhēn zhèng de rén cái.
    The company is full of mediocre people, with no real talent.
  • ，庸才。
    Tā zì rèn wéi shì tiān cái, qí shí zhǐ shì gè yōng cái.
    He considers himself a genius, but he's actually just a mediocre person.

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.

庸yōngmediocre
才cáitalented person

庸 (mediocre) describes 才 (talented person), yielding a mediocre person.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
庚庚gēng
Sound part声符shēngfú
同
同tóng庸yōng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

庸 is built from 庚 and 同, with 同 giving the sound. It probably originally meant a large bell.

Open 庸 →

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

才 originally drew a sharp peg, not a sprout growing from the ground.

Open 才 →

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