肆 (sì) · unrestrained; wanton; reckless

Meanings

1 unrestrained; wanton; reckless
2 four (banker's anti-fraud numeral)
3 shop; market stall
4 to display openly; to indulge

Characters

肆

sì

unrestrained; four (formal)

Examples

HSK 6

共计肆仟零陆拾元整。

Gòngjì sì qiān líng liù shí yuán zhěng.

Total: four thousand and sixty yuan exactly.

HSK 7-9

匪徒横行肆虐，洗劫一座又一座城镇。

Fěitú héngxíng sìnüè, xǐjié yí zuò yòu yí zuò chéngzhèn.

The bandits ran rampant, plundering town after town.

HSK 7-9

别对他肆意发泄怒火。

Bié duì tā sìyì fāxiè nùhuǒ.

Don't unleash all your anger on him.

Tips

usage

Live compounds in two registers. Modern: 肆虐 (run rampant, said of typhoons, plagues, locusts), 肆意 (willfully, recklessly), 放肆 (impudent / acting without restraint), 大肆 (on a large scale, esp. propaganda or critique). Banking / contracts: 肆 is the anti-fraud capital form of 四; the literary 'shop' sense survives in 茶肆, 市肆.

memory

Mnemonic: 肆 = 镸 (an old elongated form of 长 'long') + 聿 (a writing brush). 'Stretched out long with a brush' captures the 'unrestrained / displayed openly' feel. The banker-numeral use is a Ming-era convenience.

Components

radical

聿 yù

writing brush

Right 聿 (Kangxi #129, writing brush), anchors the radical indexing. The same radical drives 肄 (to practice / learn) and 肃 (solemn). The brush plus long-extended hint suggests 'wide-open display'; the original gloss is 极陈也 ('to arrange / display fully').

semantic

镸 cháng

long; elongated (archaic form of 长)

Left 镸, old elongated variant of 长 (long). Contributes the 'stretched out / extended' sense, the visual root of 'unrestrained, sprawling'.