Meaning of 累
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- tired
- weary
- to strain
- to wear out
- to work hard
- to accumulate
- to involve or implicate (Taiwan pr. [lei4])
- continuous
- repeated
- used in 累累[lei2 lei2]
- used in 累贅|累赘[lei2 zhui5] and 累墜|累坠[lei2 zhui5]
- used in 纍纍|累累[lei2 lei2]
How to use 累
As lèi, 累 is an everyday adjective for feeling tired, and it often appears with 了 or 很. 我今天很累。(Wǒ jīntiān hěn lèi.) I am very tired today. It can also be a verb meaning to tire someone out, as in 累死我了 (lèi sǐ wǒ le), I am exhausted.
累 is built from 田 (field) on top of 糸 (silk thread). Picture someone working a field all day and then spinning thread at night, and you will remember why they feel 累 (lèi), tired.
Common mistake: Learners often read 累 as lèi in every word, but in 积累 (jīlěi), 累积 (lěijī) and 累计 (lěijì) it is third tone lěi and means to accumulate. A good rule: if the word is about adding up or piling up, use lěi.
累 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.
累 lèi · tired · 11 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 累.
| 积累 | jīlěi | to accumulate; accumulation |
| 拖累 | tuōlěi | to encumber; to be a burden on |
| 累积 | lěijī | to accumulate |
| 劳累 | láolèi | tired; exhausted |
| 累计 | lěijì | to calculate the running total; cumulative |
| 连累 | liánlei | to implicate; to get (sb) into trouble; also pr. [lian2lei3] or [lian2lei4] |
| 累坏 | lèihuài | to become exhausted |
| 累赘 | léizhui | superfluous; cumbersome; burdensome; a burden; an encumbrance |
| 伤痕累累 | shānghénlěilěi | cuts and bruises all over the body |
| 疲累 | pílèi | tired; exhausted |
| 受累 | shòulěi | to get dragged into; to get involved (on sb else's account) |
Questions about 累
What does 累 mean?
累 (lèi) means "tired; weary" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 累?
累 is made of 1 character: 累 (11 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 累 an HSK word?
Yes. 累 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 累 and 困?
累 (lèi) means tired from effort, physical or mental. 困 (kùn) means sleepy. After a long run you are 累, and late at night you are 困.
How do I say someone got me into trouble using 累?
Use 连累 (liánlei) or 拖累 (tuōlěi). For example, 我连累了你 (wǒ liánlei le nǐ) means I got you into trouble, and 拖累 suggests being a burden that holds someone back.