早衰

zǎoshuāi
verb #32,599

Meanings

  1. 1 to age prematurely
  2. 2 premature senescence
  3. 3 to decline early

Examples

HSK 7-9
Chángqī áoyè huì dǎozhì zǎoshuāi.
Long-term staying up late can cause premature aging.
HSK 7-9
Zhè zhǒng zhíwù zài gānhàn tiáojiàn xià róngyì zǎoshuāi.
This plant is prone to early decline under drought conditions.

Tips

usage
Used both medically (人体早衰 'premature human aging' / 早衰症 'progeria') and metaphorically/agriculturally (作物早衰 'crops aging early', 叶片早衰 'leaves wilting early'). Modern health-and-wellness articles frequently warn about lifestyle causes of 早衰: 熬夜 (staying up late), 压力 (stress), 抽烟 (smoking).
memory
('early') + ('decline/decay'). The character also appears in 衰老 ('to grow old'), 衰退 ('decline / recession'), 衰弱 ('weakened') - all about decay or weakening.

Stroke Order

zǎo
shuāi