TongTong
Sign in

繁杂 (fán zá) — complicated and tedious; cumbersome; messy and diverse

Definition

繁杂 stresses both complexity and tedious messiness — more disorderly and burdensome than 复杂 ('just complicated'). Compared to 多样 (neutral 'varied/diverse'), 繁杂 carries a negative tone of too many things piled together.

adjective
complicated and tediouscumbersomemessy and diverse

Examples

  • 繁杂。
    Zhè xiē fán zá de shǒu xù ràng wǒ hěn tóu téng.
    These cumbersome procedures give me a headache.
  • 繁杂。
    Tā měi tiān dōu yào chǔ lǐ fán zá de bào biǎo.
    He has to deal with messy reports every day.
  • 繁杂，。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù tài fán zá le, xū yào chóng xīn guī huà.
    This project is too complicated and needs to be re-planned.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

繁fánnumerous
杂zámixed

繁 (numerous) and 杂 (mixed) together mean many and messy.

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
糸糸mìsilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
敏
敏mǐn繁fán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

繁 pairs 敏, a sound part, with 糸, meaning silk.

Open 繁 →

Most 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 雜; 杂 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衣衣yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
集
集jí雜zá
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 雜 pairs 衣 (clothes) with 集 as a sound part, originally referring to mixed colours, perhaps in dyed clothes; the simplified 杂 is a later shorthand.

Open 杂 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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