笨 (bèn): stupid

Meanings

1 stupid
2 foolish
3 clumsy

Characters

笨

bèn

stupid; clumsy

Contains the bamboo radical 竹, originally meaning the inner pith of bamboo - useless, hence 'clumsy'.

Examples

HSK 2

别说自己笨。

Bié shuō zìjǐ bèn.

Don't call yourself stupid.

HSK 3

他不笨，就是不够努力。

Tā bù bèn, jiùshì bùgòu nǔlì.

He's not stupid, he just doesn't try hard enough.

HSK 7-9

我真笨，忘了带钥匙。

Wǒ zhēn bèn, wàng le dài yàoshi.

I'm so dumb, I forgot to bring my keys.

Tips

usage

笨 can mean intellectually dull or physically clumsy: 笨手笨脚 (clumsy hands and feet). It's often used self-deprecatingly: 我太笨了 (I'm so dumb).

Components

radical

⺮ zhú

bamboo (radical form of 竹)

Top bamboo radical ⺮, the compressed top-form of 竹. Originally 笨 referred to the white pulpy core inside a bamboo stem - soft, plain, and unremarkable - which is how it picked up the 'dull, stupid' sense. Same radical groups other bamboo-built things: 笔 (brush), 笑 (laugh, originally a swaying bamboo), 篮 (basket).

phonetic

本 běn

root; origin

Bottom 本 (root) supplies the sound (běn → bèn, a tone shift). 本 itself is 木 with a low stroke marking the root - fitting since 笨 originally meant the inner pith of bamboo, the 'root part'. Phono-semantic with a faint semantic flavour: bamboo + its plain inner core.