āng
adjective #52,563

Meanings

  1. 1 dirty; filthy
  2. 2 (figuratively) sordid; despicable

Examples

Xiàngzi yòu āngzāng yòu nánwén.
The alley was filthy and reeked badly.
Tā jùjué cānyù zhèyàng āngzāng de jiāoyì.
He refused to take part in such a sordid deal.

Tips

usage
Almost always in 肮脏 ('dirty; filthy'), used both literally for grime and figuratively for morally sordid dealings. Don't read it 'háng' — that older 'throat' reading is essentially never used today.

Components

radical
ròu
flesh; meat (body radical)
The flesh radical ⺼ (body-form, not the moon). It dates to the older 'throat' meaning of the character; in the modern 'dirty' word it survives only as the inherited radical.
phonetic
kàng
high; throat
Standalone supplies the sound (shifted to āng). It also points to the archaic 'throat' sense; in the everyday 'filthy' meaning it functions purely as the phonetic.

Stroke Order

āng