劣 meaning and stroke order
Low-quality, inferior, bad
How to write 劣, stroke by stroke
6 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Meaning of 劣
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- inferior
How 劣 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Inadequate.
少 gives the meaning and 力 hints at the sound.
Radical: 力 (strength), shared by 44 characters on this site.
How to remember 劣
劣 is 少 (shǎo, little) on top of 力 (lì, strength). Too little strength means you come out inferior, and 力 also hints at the sound liè.
劣 almost never stands alone in modern Chinese. It appears in words like 劣质 (lièzhì, shoddy), 劣势 (lièshì, disadvantage) and 恶劣 (èliè, vile, terrible), which often describes weather, behavior or conditions. Example: 这里的天气很恶劣。(Zhèlǐ de tiānqì hěn èliè.) The weather here is terrible.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write the top as 小 (xiǎo) instead of 少 (shǎo). 劣 needs the extra slanted stroke of 少. Also, the tone is fourth tone liè, not lié.
Common words with 劣
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
劣 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 劣
How many strokes are in 劣?
劣 is written with 6 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 劣 mean?
劣 (liè) means low-quality, inferior, bad. A common word with it is 恶劣 (èliè), meaning "vile; nasty".
How do you pronounce 劣?
劣 is pronounced liè, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 劣?
The radical of 劣 is 力, which carries the idea of "strength". Dictionaries list 劣 under this radical.
Is 劣 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 劣 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the opposite of 劣?
The usual opposite is 优 (yōu, excellent). They pair up in words like 优劣 (yōuliè, strengths and weaknesses) and 优势 versus 劣势 (advantage versus disadvantage).
What is the difference between 劣质 and 低劣?
劣质 (lièzhì) mostly describes products or materials that are shoddy, like 劣质产品 (shoddy products). 低劣 (dīliè) is broader and can describe quality, methods or even character as low and substandard.