灰溜溜 (huī liū liū) — (of appearance) grayish and dull; (of demeanor)…

Definition

Painted with the dull color gray, 灰溜淈 describes a disheveled, defeated look — a person (or animal) slinking away after a loss or failure.

bound form

(of appearance) grayish and dull(of demeanor) dejectedcrestfallenlooking defeated

灰溜溜。
Tā huī liū liū dì huí dào zuò wèi shàng.
He returned to his seat crestfallen.
，灰溜溜。
Nà zhī māo lín le yǔ, huī liū liū de yàng zi hěn kě lián.
That cat got caught in the rain and looked pitiful and disheveled.
，灰溜溜。
Bǐ sài shū le, tā men huī liū liū dì lí kāi le qiú chǎng.
They lost the match and left the field dejectedly.

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

溜溜

灰 means gray and 溜溜 adds a dull, crestfallen look.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

灰 shows 火 (fire) that can be touched by 又 (hand), meaning ash.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

氵留溜

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

留

Same sound today

The left part 氵 shows water; the right part 留 gives the sound. The evidence connects 溜 to a river name.