失灵

失靈

shīlíng

verb HSK 7-9 #9,643

Meanings

刹车失灵了，太危险了！

Shāchē shīlíng le, tài wēixiǎn le!

The brakes failed, so dangerous!

这个方法对他完全失灵。

Zhège fāngfǎ duì tā wánquán shīlíng.

This method is completely ineffective on him.

memory

失 (lose) + 灵 (effectiveness/spirit) = lost its effectiveness. The spirit that makes it work has left.

usage

失灵 is used for both mechanical failures (brakes, machines) and non-physical things losing effectiveness (methods, medicine).

失 shī

灵 líng