衣衫褴褛

衣衫襤褸

yīshān-lánlǚ

idiom

Meanings

HSK 7-9

一个衣衫褴褛的老人在街角乞讨。

Yīgè yīshān-lánlǚ de lǎorén zài jiē jiǎo qǐtǎo.

A ragged old man was begging on the street corner.

HSK 7-9

难民们衣衫褴褛，面黄肌瘦。

Nànmín men yīshān-lánlǚ, miànhuáng-jīshòu.

The refugees were in tattered clothes, gaunt and sallow.

history

褴褛 (“ragged”) goes back to 《左传·宣公十二年》 in the phrase 筚路蓝缕 - the Chu rulers “in tattered clothes and a brushwood cart” opening up the mountain forests.

memory

The two 衤 (clothing) radicals in 褴褛 both literally signal “garment” - the whole word is doubly marked as “clothes-clothes-worn-out”.

衣 yī

衫 shān

褴 lán

褛 lǚ