乏 (fá): short of, tired
乏 (fá) is a Chinese character meaning “short of.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丿 (structural) and 之 (structural). It ranks #1391 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 乏 a foot 之 running into a wall or barrier 丿. Its radical form 丿 (slash) appears in many related characters such as 么 (me, suffix used in 什么 (what), 这么 (so), 怎么 (how) etc), 久 (jiǔ, (of a period of time) long), 乐 (lè, happy).
Definitions
- short of
- tired
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA foot 之 running into a wall or barrier 丿
Decomposition: ⿱丿之 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 乏 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 乏
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 乏味adjective | fá wèi | tedious |
| 匮乏adjective | kuì fá | to be deficient in sth |
| 不乏verb | bù fá | there is no lack of |
| 贫乏adjective | pín fá | impoverished |
| 乏力adjective | fá lì | lacking in strength |
| 回天乏术 | huí tiān fá shù | (idiom) nothing can be done to remedy the situation |
| 疲乏adjective | pí fá | tired |
| 解乏verb | jiě fá | to relieve tiredness |
| 后继乏人 | hòu jì fá rén | see 後繼無人|后继无人 |
| 分身乏术phrase | fēn shēn fá shù | to be up to one's ears in work (idiom) |
| 人困马乏phrase | rén kùn mǎ fá | riders tired and horses weary (idiom) |
| 乏人照顾 | fá rén zhào gù | (of a person) left unattended |
| 单调乏味 | dān diào fá wèi | monotonous |
| 乏善可陈phrase | fá shàn kě chén | (idiom) to be nothing to write home about |
| 波提乏 | bō tí fá | Potiphar, the captain of the pharaoh's guard (in the account of Joseph in the Book of Genesis) |
乏 appears in 24 compound words: 25 as the first character, 50 as the last, and 25 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 乏 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
to be completely exhausted; to be worn out and spent (especially of a group)
Example Sentences
乏字由5笔画组成，结构很巧妙。
fá zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .
The character "乏" consists of five strokes and has a very ingenious structure.
【东方日报产评】美币策变数甚多 美元缺乏能见度
dōng fāng rì bào chǎn píng měi bì cè biàn shǔ shèn duō měi yuán quē fá néng jiàn dù
[Oriental Daily Business Commentary] Many Uncertainties Surround U.S. Monetary Policy; Lack of Clarity on the Dollar
...57岁男晕倒家中厕内 家人揭发报案惜返魂乏术
. . . 5 7 suì nán yūn dǎo jiā zhōng cè nèi jiā rén jiē fā bào àn xī fǎn hún fá shù
...A 57-year-old man collapsed in his home bathroom; his family discovered him and called the police, but unfortunately, he could not be revived.
男人勃不起是什么原因引起的呢?缺乏运动导致整体体能下降吗
nán rén bó bù qǐ shì shén má yuán yīn yǐn qǐ de ne ? quē fá yùn dòng dǎo zhì zhěng tǐ tǐ néng xià jiàng ma
What causes men to have an erection? Does lack of exercise lead to a decline in overall physical fitness?
...年人子宫下垂的治疗有哪些?绝经后雌激素缺乏是主因吗
. . . nián rén zǐ gōng xià chuí de zhì liáo yǒu nǎ xiē ? jué jīng hòu cí jī sù quē fá shì zhǔ yīn ma
... What are the treatments for uterine ptosis in young people? Is estrogen deficiency the main cause after menopause?
春天祛湿汤水合集|身体湿气重疲倦乏力精神差 中医推介9款汤水茶饮 健脾化湿...
chūn tiān 祛 shī tāng shuǐ gě jí shēn tǐ shī qì chóng pí juàn fá lì jīng shén chā zhōng yī tuī jiè 9 kuǎn tāng shuǐ chá yǐn jiàn pí huà shī . . .
Spring dampness removal soup collection|Body dampness, fatigue, fatigue, poor spirit Traditional Chinese medicine recommends 9 soups and teas to strengthen the spleen and reduce dampness...
愚蠢是智慧的缺乏。
Yúchǔn shì zhìhuì de quēfá.
Stupidity is a lack of intelligence.
日本自然资源贫乏。
Rìběn zìránzīyuán pínfá.
Japan is poor in natural resources.
汤姆觉得玛丽乏味。
Tāngmǔ juéde Mǎlì fáwèi.
Tom thinks Mary is boring.
考虑到他缺乏经验，他做得[已经]非常好了。
Kǎolǜ dào tā quēfá jīngyàn, tā zuò de [ yǐjīng ] fēicháng hǎo le.
He is doing very well considering he lacks experience.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 乏 (fá) mean in Chinese?
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What is the radical of 乏?
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What characters sound the same as 乏 (fá)?
Is 乏 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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