褴褛 (lán lǚ) — (of clothes) ragged; shabby

Definition

Literary/written adjective for clothing that is torn and worn-out. Stronger and more formal than everyday words like 破 (pò); usually appears as 衣衫褴褛.

adjective

(of clothes) raggedshabby

褴褛。
Nà ge liú làng hàn chuān zhuó lán lǚ de yī fu.
That homeless man is wearing ragged clothes.
褴褛，。
Tā yī shān lán lǚ, kàn qǐ lái hěn kě lián.
His clothes are ragged; he looks pitiful.
褴褛。
Zhè xiē jiù yī fu yǐ jīng lán lǚ bù kān le.
These old clothes are already worn to shreds.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

褴lán

褛lǚ

The two characters only work together to describe worn-out clothes; neither 褴 nor 褛 carries its own meaning here.

Sound-only characters

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 襤; 褴 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

衣衣yīclothes

Sound part声符shēngfú

監

監jiān襤

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

The traditional form 襤 pairs 衣 (clothes) with the sound part 監; the simplified 褴 is a later abbreviation.

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 褸; 褛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

衣衣yīclothes

Sound part声符shēngfú

婁

婁lóu褸

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

The traditional form 褸 pairs 衣, meaning clothes, with 婁, which gives the sound; the simplified 褛 is a shorter form.