adjective #71,192

Meanings

  1. 1 dirty; filthy; sordid
  2. 2 base; despicable; mean-spirited
  3. 3 petty; small-minded

Examples

HSK 7-9
Wǒ wúfǎ rěnshòu zhèzhǒng wòchuò de shǒuduàn.
I cannot put up with such sordid trickery.
HSK 7-9
Zhèngzhí de jūnzǐ jué bù huì shǐyòng wòchuò de shǒuduàn.
An upright gentleman would never stoop to such sordid means.
HSK 7-9
Hūn'àn de xiǎoxiàng sànfā chū yì gǔ wòchuò fǔxiǔ de qìxī.
The dimly lit alley exudes an air of squalid decay.

Tips

usage
wò is a bound form - it survives essentially in one compound: 龌龊. Two senses, often blurred. (1) Literal: filthy, squalid (a place, conditions, an environment). (2) Figurative: morally base, sordid, contemptible (means, scheming, motives). The figurative sense is the more common modern usage - 龌龊 'sordid means / dirty tricks' is a fairly strong condemnation, somewhere between 卑鄙 (despicable) and 下流 (low / vulgar). Originally the character described teeth set crookedly close together, hence 'petty / cramped'; the moral senses extended from there.
memory
Left 齿 (tooth) + right (house - supplying the sound) = teeth cramped together like rooms in a hovel. From cramped teeth, the meaning generalised to 'cramped / petty / mean-spirited' and finally to 'dirty / sordid'.

Components

radical
齿 chǐ
tooth
Left tooth radical (Kangxi #211). Originally referred to teeth crowded together; the moral sense developed by metaphor from 'cramped, petty' to 'dirty, base'. Same radical groups , , .
phonetic
house; room
Right phonetic - supplies the sound (wū → wò, regular tone shift). The same phonetic anchors (grasp), (rich, generous).

Stroke Order