烂 (làn) — (of food) rotten, spoiled, or overcooked to a soft consistency; (of objects) worn out, tattered, falling apart; (of situations, quality) messy, chaotic, lousy
Definition
An adjective covering two main ideas: physically broken-down (rotten food, tattered clothes) and, informally, a situation being lousy/chaotic. Colloquial and vivid — 坏 is the neutral 'bad', 糟 emphasizes 'messed up/ruined' outcomes.
adjective
(of food) rotten, spoiled, or overcooked to a soft consistency(of objects) worn outtatteredfalling apart(of situations, quality) messychaoticlousy
Examples
- 烂，。Zhè xiē shuǐ guǒ dōu làn le, bù néng chī le.These fruits have all gone bad—can't eat them.
- 烂，。Tā de yī fu chuān dé dōu làn le, hái bú shě de rēng.His clothes are worn out, but he still can't bear to throw them away.
- 烂，。Zhè ge fāng àn tài làn le, dé zhòng zuò.This plan is too lousy; we have to redo it.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
This origin belongs to the traditional form 爛; 烂 is its simplified writing.
Sound part声符shēngfú
闌
闌lán爛làn
Same sound today
The form 爛 pairs 火 (fire) with 闌 as the sound part; this explains 爛, not the simplified 烂.
Appears in
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