腻味 (nì wei) — greasy, rich (of food, to the point of being un…

Definition

Describes food that is overly greasy or rich so it turns you off — and, by extension, anything that bores or sickens you from overexposure.

adjective

greasyrich (of food, to the point of being unpleasant)fed upsick oftediousmonotonous

腻味，。
Zhè hóng shāo ròu tài nì wei le, wǒ chī bú xià.
This braised pork is too greasy for me; I can't eat it.
，腻味。
Měi tiān zuò tóng yàng de gōng zuò, wǒ dōu nì wei le.
Doing the same work every day, I'm fed up with it.
，腻味。
Tā lǎo shuō nà xiē wú liáo de shì, zhēn ràng rén nì wei.
He keeps talking about those boring things — it really makes people sick of it.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

腻 gives the greasy quality, and 味 the taste; together they mean cloying or tiresome.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 膩; 腻 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

貳

貳èr膩nì

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 膩 pairs 肉, meat, with 貳 to indicate the pronunciation; the simplified 腻 is a later shorthand.

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

口未味

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

未

Same sound today

味 combines 口 (mouth) with 未, which gives the sound wèi; the mouth part relates to taste.