衰 (cuī) — decline; wane; feeble; declining

Definition

Bound morpheme meaning 'decline, wane' — almost never used alone; you will see it in compounds like 衰弱, 衰退, 衰败 (weaken, decline, decay). Read as cuī only in this form; the surname reading is shuāi.

bound form
declinewanefeebledeclining
Easily confused

Examples

  • Tā de shēn tǐ cuī ruò le
    His body has weakened.
  • ，
    Suí zhe nián jì zēng zhǎng, tā de jīng lì zhú jiàn cuī tuì
    As he aged, his energy gradually declined.
  • Jīng jì chí xù cuī bài
    The economy continues to decline.

Origin

Pictograph
六书liùshū
象形xiàngxíng

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

The old form of 衰 pictures a palm-fiber raincoat, a garment later written with another character.

Appears in
Change & Process

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