adjective #71,192

Meanings

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

Examples

Wǒ wúfǎ rěnshòu zhèzhǒng wòchuò de shǒuduàn.
I cannot put up with such sordid trickery.
Zhèngzhí de jūnzǐ jué bù huì shǐyòng wòchuò de shǒuduàn.
An upright gentleman would never stoop to such sordid means.
Hūn'àn de xiǎoxiàng sànfā chū yī 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; supplying the sound
Right phonetic — supplies the sound (wū → wò, regular tone shift). The same phonetic anchors (grasp), (rich, generous).

Stroke Order