蔫 (niān): wilted

Meanings

1 wilted
2 withered
3 (of a person) listless
4 spiritless
5 dispirited

Characters

蔫

niān

wilted; withered; listless

Examples

HSK 3

他这几天看起来蔫蔫的。

Tā zhè jǐ tiān kànqǐlái niānniān de.

He's been looking listless these past few days.

HSK 6

花瓶里的花都蔫了。

Huāpíng lǐ de huā dōu niān le.

The flowers in the vase have all wilted.

HSK 7-9

太阳一晒，菠菜就蔫了。

Tàiyáng yí shài, bōcài jiù niān le.

Once the sun hits them, the spinach leaves wilt.

Tips

usage

蔫 has two parallel meanings: literally for plants/leaves losing water and going limp, and figuratively for people lacking energy or enthusiasm. Common compounds: 蔫巴巴 ('all wilted/listless'), 蔫头耷脑 ('head drooping, listless'), 蔫不唧儿 (Beijing slang: 'quietly / on the sly').

memory

The 艹 (grass) radical at the top is the giveaway - the original meaning is plants going limp from lack of water. Picture a wilting leaf and the meaning extends naturally to 'a wilted person'.

Components

radical

艹 cǎo

grass (radical form of 艸)

Grass radical on top - two paired sprouts, the standard cap for anything green and growing. Here it does direct semantic work: 蔫 names what happens to plants when they wilt - leaves drooping, stems going limp from drought or cut flowers losing their bounce. Sits in the huge plant family with 花 flower, 草 grass, 苗 sprout, 芳 fragrant.

phonetic

焉 yān

particle; where

Bottom 焉 supplies the sound - yān shifting to niān. 焉's classical-particle meaning has no role here. The compound 蔫了 'gone wilted, drooping' is also used metaphorically of a person whose spirits have flagged - same withered energy.