瘦长 (shòu cháng) — tall and thin, lanky

Definition

adjective

tall and thinlanky

瘦长。
Tā hěn shòu cháng.
He is tall and thin.
瘦长，。
Tā bú shòu cháng, gè zi bù gāo.
She is not lanky; she is short.
瘦长。
Nà ge lán qiú yùn dòng yuán fēi cháng shòu cháng.
That basketball player is very lanky.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéSide by side

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

瘦 and 长 together describe a thin, tall shape.

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.

疒叟瘦

Meaning part形符xíngfú

疒疒nè

Sound part声符shēngfú

叟

叟sǒu瘦shòu

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

瘦 is built from 疒 and 叟: 疒 gives the meaning, and 叟 gives the sound.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.