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靡

mǐ / mí
verb #38,331

Meanings

  1. 1 to be strewn; to be laid low (by wind, by force)
  2. 2 no; not; none
  3. 3 to be swept along; to follow (a trend)

Examples

HSK 4
这首歌在八十年代风靡全国。
Zhè shǒu gē zài bāshí niándài fēngmǐ quán guó.
This song was wildly popular throughout the entire country in the eighties.
HSK 6
这支军队所向披靡，无人可挡。
Zhè zhī jūnduì suǒxiàngpīmǐ, wú rén kě dǎng.
Wherever this army goes, all resistance is swept aside.
HSK 7-9
几次挫折后，他精神萎靡，振作不起来。
Jǐ cì cuòzhé hòu, tā jīngshén wěimǐ, zhènzuò bu qǐlái.
After several setbacks his spirits sagged and he could not rouse himself.

Tips

usage
The mǐ reading lives in a handful of high-impact compounds. 风靡 (literally 'wind-bends-down') = wildly popular, sweep through a population. 萎靡 (wilted-and-bowed) = listless, dispirited; a fixed compound for low mood or fading vitality. 披靡 (strewn-and-flattened) appears chiefly in the chengyu 所向披靡 'wherever pointed, the enemy is flattened' - a praise for an unstoppable force. Literary 靡 can also mean 'no; not', as in 靡不 (there is none who is not).
mistakes
Two readings - choose by sense. mǐ (3rd tone, this entry) = strewn / swept along / no - the dynamic 'bent flat' senses, all the famous compounds (风靡, 萎靡, 所向披靡). The 靡 reading (2nd tone, see the mí entry) is restricted to 'waste, squander' - almost only in 奢靡 (extravagant) and 靡费 (wasteful).

Components

radical
非 fēi
not; non-
Bottom 非 - the indexing radical (Kangxi #175). Originally a pictograph of a bird's two wings spread in opposite directions, hence 'not / contrary'. Reinforces the negative / dispersed senses of 靡: 'not standing up', 'scattered like opposing wings'. The negation flavour of 非 is the source of the literary 靡 = 'no; none'.
phonetic
麻 má
hemp; supplying the sound
Top-left 麻 (hemp) - supplies both the sound (má → mǐ / mí, a regular shift) and a soft semantic flavour: hemp stalks are tall and bend in the wind, fitting the 'strewn / laid low' core. The same phonetic appears in 魔 (demon), 磨 (grind), 摩 (rub) - recognising the má phonetic unlocks all of them.

Stroke Order

靡 mǐ