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殆

dài
adjective

Meanings

  1. 1 dangerous; perilous
  2. 2 almost; nearly (literary)

Examples

学而不思则罔，思而不学则殆。
Xué'érbùsīzéwǎng, sī'érbùxuézédài.
Learning without thinking leads to confusion; thinking without learning is perilous.
大火过后，图书馆的书损失殆尽。
Dàhuǒ guòhòu, túshūguǎn de shū sǔnshī dàijìn.
After the fire, the books in the library were almost entirely destroyed.

Tips

usage
殆 is literary. The Confucius line 思而不学则殆 uses the perilous sense. The almost sense survives in 殆尽 (almost completely gone).

Components

radical
歹 dǎi
death; bad
The death-and-bones radical. Danger that brings one close to death is the root sense of 殆, so the death radical anchors its perilous meaning.
phonetic
台 tái
platform; stage
Supplies the sound; here read dài rather than tái. The platform meaning does not enter the word, only the reading, the same role 台 plays in 怠 and 殆's relatives.

Stroke Order

殆 dài