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拙劣 (zhuō liè) — clumsy, botched

Definition

拙劣 describes something performed or made with poor skill — a clumsy performance, plan, or piece of work. It judges the execution as bad, unlike 笨/蠢 (which describe a person as slow-witted) or 简陋 (which describes physical simplicity).

adjective
clumsybotched

Examples

  • 拙劣，。
    Tā de biǎo yǎn hěn zhuō liè, méi rén xǐ huan.
    His performance is very clumsy, nobody likes it.
  • 拙劣，。
    Zhè ge jì huà hěn zhuō liè, bù néng zuò.
    This plan is very botched, can't be done.
  • 拙劣，。
    Tā de xiě zuò jì qiǎo hěn zhuō liè, xū yào duō liàn xí.
    His writing skills are very clumsy, needs more practice.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

拙zhuōclumsy
劣lièpoor

拙 means clumsy and 劣 means poor; together they describe work that is awkward and badly done.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
出
出chū拙zhuō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拙 has 扌 (手, hand) on the left and 出 on the right, which gives the sound.

Open 拙 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Good & Bad

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.