残缺不全 (cán quē bú) — broken and incomplete; fragmentary; partly missing
Definition
A formal idiom meaning 'broken and incomplete' — describes physical objects (books, artifacts) or records that are damaged and missing pieces. Stronger than just 不完整, with a sense of damage or loss rather than simple incompleteness.
idiom
broken and incompletefragmentarypartly missing
Examples
- 残缺不全，。Zhè běn gǔ shū yǐ jīng cán quē bú le, hěn duō yè dōu kàn bù qīng chǔ.This ancient book is already fragmentary; many pages are illegible.
- 残缺不全，。Nà xiē chū tǔ de wén wù dà duō cán quē bú, xū yào màn màn xiū fù.Most of those unearthed artifacts are broken and incomplete, requiring gradual restoration.
- 残缺不全，。Yīn wèi jì lù cán quē bú, wǒ men hěn nán liǎo jiě dāng shí de qíng kuàng.Because the records are fragmentary, it's hard for us to understand the situation at that time.
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