缺 (quē): to lack; to be short of

Meanings

1 to lack; to be short of
2 deficiency; shortage
3 to be absent; to be missing

Characters

缺

quē

to lack; to be short of; deficient

Examples

我们缺一个人。

Wǒmen quē yī gè rén.

We're short one person.

这里缺水。

Zhèlǐ quē shuǐ.

There's a water shortage here.

什么都不缺。

Shénme dōu bù quē.

Nothing is lacking.

Tips

usage

缺 is very versatile: 缺钱 (short of money), 缺人 (short-staffed), 缺水 (lacking water), 缺经验 (lacking experience).

Components

radical

缶 fǒu

earthenware jar

Left jar radical, a pictograph of an open-mouthed earthenware vessel — the pottery used for storing wine, water, or grain. It supplies the meaning: a chipped or cracked jar. The original picture is a broken pot, and the abstract senses 'lack, deficient, missing' all generalise from a vessel that no longer holds what it should. Joins 罐, 缸 in the pottery family.

phonetic

夬 guài

to break off; resolve

Right 夬 supplies the sound — guài shifted to quē, regular Old Chinese velar/affricate alternation in this series. 夬 also contributes a sharp semantic flavour: it depicts a hand breaking something off, the idea of cleaving or splitting. Combined with the broken jar on the left, the whole picture sharpens to 'a vessel chipped, something missing'. Same series: 决, 诀, 缺.