穷 (qióng): poor

Meanings

1 poor
2 destitute
3 exhausted (of resources)

Characters

穷

qióng

poor; exhausted; extremely

Examples

他小时候家里很穷。

Tā xiǎoshíhou jiālǐ hěn qióng.

His family was very poor when he was young.

穷不是你的错。

Qióng bùshì nǐ de cuò.

Being poor is not your fault.

虽然穷，但是很快乐。

Suīrán qióng, dànshì hěnkuài lè.

Although poor, (they are) very happy.

Tips

culture

The saying 穷人的孩子早当家 (qióngrén de háizi zǎo dāngjiā) means 'children of poor families grow up fast'. China's rapid economic development has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty.

usage

Internet slang: 穷 is used humorously by young people to describe themselves, even if they're not actually poor. 我太穷了 is like saying 'I'm so broke'.

Components

radical

穴 xué

cave; hole (radical)

Top cave radical — the indexing radical, depicting a roofed hollow in a hillside. Anchors 穷 in confinement imagery: living in a hole or driven into a corner is the original picture of poverty. Same radical sits over 空 empty, 突 to rush, 穿 pierce, 窗 window.

semantic

力 lì

strength; effort (semantic)

Bottom 力 — strength, exertion. Traditional 窮 had 躬 (body bent over) below 穴, picturing a person hunched inside a cave from exhaustion. The 1956 reform replaced 躬 with simpler 力, so the modern compound reads 'effort under a cave' — strain pushed to its limit, hence destitute.