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蹩脚

蹩腳
biéjiǎo
adjective #8,170

Meanings

  1. 1 inferior; poor quality; clumsy
  2. 2 lame; shoddy

Characters

蹩
bié
to limp; to stumble
脚
jiǎo
foot; leg
Limping foot — clumsy, shoddy, of poor quality.

Examples

他的中文说得很蹩脚。
Tā de Zhōngwén shuō de hěn biéjiǎo.
His Chinese is pretty bad.
这个借口太蹩脚了。
Zhège jièkǒu tài biéjiǎo le.
This excuse is too lame.
他演技蹩脚，观众都看不下去。
Tā yǎnjì biéjiǎo, guānzhòng dōu kàn bù xiàqù.
His acting was so bad the audience couldn't bear to watch.

Tips

history
蹩脚 originally described someone with a limp (蹩 = to limp, 脚 = foot). The meaning extended to 'clumsy' and then to 'poor quality' in general.
usage
蹩脚 is commonly used to describe poor language skills (蹩脚的英语), bad excuses (蹩脚的借口), or subpar performances. It's informal and mildly critical.

Stroke Order

蹩 bié
脚 jiǎo