Meaning of 弱
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- weak; feeble
- young
- inferior; not as good as
- (following a decimal or fraction) slightly less than
How to use 弱
弱 (ruò) describes physical weakness, a weak signal, or being less capable than someone else. It often appears in compounds like 弱点 (ruòdiǎn) and in the pattern 不比…弱 to say one is not worse. Example: 他的身体很弱。(Tā de shēntǐ hěn ruò.) His health is very weak.
弱 looks like two bent bows 弓 side by side, each with two little strokes like loose strings. Two droopy bows with slack strings cannot shoot well, so they are weak.
Common mistake: Learners often write the inner strokes as a full 弓 twice and forget the two small slanting strokes inside each half, or confuse 弱 with 羽 (yǔ, feather). Also, do not mix up 弱 (ruò, fourth tone) with 若 (ruò, if), which sounds the same but has a different meaning.
弱 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
弱 ruò · weak · 10 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 弱.
Questions about 弱
What does 弱 mean?
弱 (ruò) means "weak; feeble; young" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 弱?
弱 is made of 1 character: 弱 (10 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.
Is 弱 an HSK word?
Yes. 弱 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 弱, 软弱 and 虚弱?
弱 is the general word for weak. 软弱 (ruǎnruò) usually means weak in character or willpower, while 虚弱 (xūruò) means physically weak, for example after an illness.
What does 弱 mean after a number?
Placed after a fraction or decimal, 弱 means slightly less than that amount. For example, 三分之一弱 (sān fēn zhī yī ruò) means a little under one third. The opposite is 强 (qiáng), slightly more than.