What humbleness is there? My virtue makes it fragrant. (Liu Yuxi)
Tips
usage
Common in 简陋 ('crude, shabby'), 陋习 ('bad habit') and 丑陋 ('ugly'). Liu Yuxi's classic essay 陋室铭 ('Inscription on a Humble Room') made the 'humble dwelling' sense famous.
The left-side mound radical (the hill form of 阜) originally evoked a cramped, walled-in spot of land, which fits the core idea of something narrow and confined.
phonetic
㔠lòu
hidden; tucked away
The right side supplies the sound and a hint of meaning: it pictures something tucked away and hemmed in, reinforcing the senses of narrow, mean, and shabby.
