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龌龊 (wò chuò) — dirty, filthy (formal/literary); (figurative) narrow-minded, petty, mean-spirited

Definition

A formal, literary adjective meaning 'filthy' — used for dirty surroundings or, figuratively, a petty, mean-spirited person. More literary than everyday words like 脏.

adjective
dirtyfilthy (formal/literary)(figurative) narrow-mindedpettymean-spirited

Examples

  • 龌龊。
    Xiàng zi lǐ de huán jìng shí fēn wò chuò.
    The environment in the alley is extremely filthy.
  • 龌龊，。
    Zhè ge rén sī xiǎng wò chuò, zǒng ài suàn jì bié rén.
    This person is narrow-minded and always likes to scheme against others.
  • 龌龊。
    Nà bù xiǎo shuō jiē lù le guān chǎng de wò chuò.
    That novel exposes the moral filth of officialdom.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

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

龌wò
龊chuò

龌 and 龊 carry no independent meaning here; together they describe filth or petty narrowness.

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 齷; 龌 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
齒齒chǐteeth
Sound part声符shēngfú
屋
屋wū齷
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 齷 combines 齒 (teeth) with 屋 for its sound; the simplified 龌 is only a later shorthand.

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 齪; 龊 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
齒齒chǐteeth
Sound part声符shēngfú
足
足zú齪
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 齪 combines 齒, meaning teeth, with 足 as a sound part; the simplified 龊 is a later shorthand.

Appears in
Personality & Traits

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