瘪

癟
biě
adjective #14,527

Meanings

  1. 1 deflated; shriveled; sunken; flat
  2. 2 empty

Examples

HSK 2
Zhè gè qiú yǐjīng biě le.
This ball is already deflated.
HSK 7-9
Lúntāi biě le, děi huàn yī gè.
The tire is flat, we need to change it.

Tips

usage
吃瘪 (chī biě) is a common colloquial expression meaning 'to suffer a setback / get humiliated'. 干瘪 (gān biě) means 'dried out and shriveled', used for both physical objects and figuratively for dull/lifeless writing.

Components

radical
疒 nè
sickness (radical form)
Left-corner sickness radical, the indexing radical, depicting a person leaning against a bed. It carries the deflated, weakened feel of 瘪 - empty grains, sunken cheeks, collapsed tyres. Same family: 病 (ill), 疼 (sore), 痛 (pain), 瘦 (thin).
semantic
自 zì
self; nose
Inside-top 自 - originally a drawing of the human nose, later borrowed for 'self.' Stacked over 仑 it suggests a face that has lost its fullness - a deflated nose and hollow cheeks, fitting the meaning of shrivelled or empty.
semantic
仑 lún
order; logic
Inside-bottom 仑 - abstract sense of arranged or systematic, here functioning as a graphic finisher under 自. Together with the nose above and the sickness frame outside, it completes the picture of a body whose fullness has collapsed inward.

Stroke Order

瘪 biě