滥 (làn): overflowing, excessive, indiscriminate
滥 (làn) is a Chinese character meaning “overflowing.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 监 (phonetic). It ranks #2225 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 滥 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- overflowing
- excessive
- indiscriminate
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 滥 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 滥用 | làn yòng | to misuse |
| 陈词滥调 | chén cí làn diào | cliché |
| 泛滥 | fàn làn | to overflow |
| 滥杀 | làn shā | to kill indiscriminately |
| 狂轰滥炸 | kuáng hōng làn zhà | to bomb indiscriminately |
| 粗制滥造 | cū zhì làn zào | to churn out large quantities without regard for quality (idiom) |
| 滥竽充数 | làn yú chōng shù | lit. to play the yu 竽 mouth organ to make up numbers (idiom) |
| 泛滥成灾 | fàn làn chéng zāi | lit. to flood (idiom) |
| 滥伐 | làn fá | to denude |
| 滥用权力 | làn yòng quán lì | abuse of power |
| 滥好人 | làn hǎo rén | sb who tries to be on good terms with everyone |
| 下三滥 | xià sān làn | riffraff |
| 滥用职权 | làn yòng zhí quán | abuse of power |
| 滥套子 | làn tào zi | platitude |
| 滥情 | làn qíng | fickle in love |
滥 appears in 29 compound words: 66 as the first character, 21 as the last, and 14 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 滥 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
Showing 4 of 8 idioms containing 滥.
Example Sentences
暴雨过后，滥水上涨，淹没了低洼的街道。
bào yǔ guò hòu , làn shuǐ shǎng zhǎng , yān méi le dī 洼 de jiē dào .
After the downpour, floodwaters rose, submerging the low-lying streets.
泰国60天免签违法滥用频传 拟砍半30天
tài guó 6 0 tiān miǎn qiān wéi fǎ làn yòng pín chuán nǐ kǎn bàn 3 0 tiān
Reports of abuse of Thailand’s 60-day visa-free policy are on the rise; authorities plan to cut the duration in half to 30 days
滥倒蟑螂大阵仗!溪湖镇长怒揭嚣张车队 监视...
làn dǎo 蟑 螂 dà zhèn zhàng ! xī hú zhèn cháng nù jiē xiāo zhāng chē duì jiān shì . . .
Massive Cockroach Dumping Operation! Xihu Town Mayor Exposes Brazen Convoy and Orders Surveillance...
【直播】听证会:对外援助中的浪费、欺诈和滥用
zhí bō tīng zhèng huì : duì wài yuán zhù zhōng de làng fèi , qī zhà hé làn yòng
[Live] Hearing: Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Foreign Aid
...让军购条例付委 国民党:一定支持但不能浮滥编列
. . . ràng jūn gòu tiáo lì fù wěi guó mín dǎng : yī dìng zhī chí dàn bù néng fú làn biān liè
... Let the arms purchase regulations be handed over to the committee Kuomintang: We must support but not be overly listed
中方抨滥征税 势触新诉讼
zhōng fāng pēng làn zhēng shuì shì chù xīn sù sòng
China criticizes excessive taxation and is bound to lead to new lawsuits
喀提林，你还会滥用我们的耐心多久呀？
Kātílín, nǐ hái huì lànyòng wǒmen de nàixīn duōjiǔ ya?
How long, O Catiline, will you abuse our patience?
书和朋友应该是宁缺毋滥。
Shū hé péngyou yīnggāi shì nìngquēwúlàn.
Books and friends should be few but good.
台风造成了河水泛滥。
Táifēng zàochéng le héshuǐ fàn làn.
The typhoon caused the river to flood.
他因滥用公共基金而被捕。
Tā yīn lànyòng gōnggòng jījīn ér bèibǔ.
He was arrested for abusing public funds.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 滥 (làn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 滥 and 尴?
How many strokes does 滥 have?
What is the radical of 滥?
What are the components of 滥?
What are common words containing 滥?
What characters sound the same as 滥 (làn)?
Is 滥 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 滥 with real-time feedback
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