劣 (liè): inferior
劣 (liè) is a Chinese character meaning “inferior.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 少 (semantic) and 力 (phonetic). It ranks #1881 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 劣 inadequate. Its radical form 力 (power) appears in many related characters such as 动 (dòng, (of sth) to move), 力 (lì, power), 办 (bàn, to take care of (a matter)).
Definitions
- inferior
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 劣 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 劣
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 卑劣adjective | bēi liè | base |
| 劣势noun | liè shì | inferior |
| 劣质adjective | liè zhì | shoddy |
| 拙劣adjective | zhuō liè | clumsy |
| 低劣adjective | dī liè | inferior quality |
| 劣等adjective | liè děng | poor-quality |
| 劣迹noun | liè jì | bad record (esp. of a public official) |
| 优胜劣汰phrase | yōu shèng liè tài | (idiom) survival of the fittest |
| 优劣noun | yōu liè | good and bad |
| 伪劣adjective | wěi liè | inferior |
| 假冒伪劣phrase | jiǎ mào wěi liè | cheap quality counterfeit (goods) |
| 粗劣adjective | cū liè | coarse |
| 优胜劣败 | yōu shèng liè bài | see 優勝劣汰|优胜劣汰 |
| 劣币驱逐良币proverb | liè bì qū zhú liáng bì | bad money drives out good money (economics) |
| 土豪劣绅noun | tǔ háo liè shēn | local bosses, shady gentry (idiom) |
劣 appears in 23 compound words: 35 as the first character, 52 as the last, and 13 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 劣 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
fake, forged, counterfeit and poor-quality; counterfeit and shoddy (generally speaking)
fake, forged, counterfeit and poor-quality; counterfeit and shoddy (generally speaking)
Example Sentences
优胜劣汰，自然法则。
Yōu shèng liè tài, zìrán fǎzé.
Survival of the fittest is the law of nature.
星岛申诉王|盆菜被嫌劣食 屏山传人坚守柴火制盆菜 父女档延续围...
xīng dǎo shēn sù wáng pén cài bèi xián liè shí bǐng shān chuán rén jiān shǒu chái huǒ zhì pén cài fù nǚ dàng yán xù wéi . . .
Sing Tao Appeal King|Poon choi was suspected of being inferior food, Ping Shan descendants insisted on making poon choi with firewood, and the father and daughter stall continued to encircle...
...案》实施“打风不停市”以来七个交易日在恶劣天气下如常开市 印花税收入25亿元
. . . àn shí shī dǎ fēng bù tíng shì yǐ lái qī gè jiāo yì rì zài è liè tiān qì xià rú cháng kāi shì yìn huā shuì shōu rù 2 5 yì yuán
... Since the implementation of the "wind does not stop the market", the market has been open as usual in bad weather for seven trading days, with stamp duty revenue of 2.5 billion yuan
天氣惡劣要求換航線!印度醫療專機失聯墜毀 機上7...
tiān 氣 惡 liè yāo qiú 換 háng 線 ! yìn dù 醫 療 專 機 shī 聯 墜 毀 機 shàng . . .
Bad weather forced a change in flight path! Indian medical evacuation aircraft goes missing and crashes, with 7 people on board...
约1.5万人参加:恶劣天气难挡布拉戈维申斯克谢肉节庆典
yuē . wàn rén cān jiā è liè tiān qì nán dǎng bù lā gē wéi shēn sī kè xiè ròu jié qìng diǎn
Approximately 15,000 people attended: Inclement weather fails to dampen the Blagoveshchensk Meat Festival celebrations.
惡劣!男疑拐浪浪回家 從5樓拋下畫面曝
惡 liè ! nán yí guǎi làng làng huí jiā 從 樓 拋 xià 畫 miàn pù
Bad! Man abducts Wave and throws her from the 5th floor.
恶霸恶劣地践踏同学的午餐便当。
èbà èliè de jiàntà tóngxué de wǔcān biàndāng.
The bully stomped on his schoolmate’s lunchbox out of spite.
由于天气恶劣，飞机延误了。
Yóuyú tiānqì èliè, fēijī yánwu le.
The plane was late due to bad weather.
天气恶劣的时候尽量不要外出。
Tiānqì èliè de shíhou jìnliàng bù yào wàichū.
In severe weather, it's best to stay indoors.
恶劣的天气对他的健康带来了影响。
èliè de tiānqì duì tā de jiànkāng dàilái le yǐngxiǎng.
The bad weather affected his health.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 劣 (liè) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 劣 and 历?
How many strokes does 劣 have?
What is the radical of 劣?
What are the components of 劣?
What are common words containing 劣?
What characters sound the same as 劣 (liè)?
Is 劣 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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