芜

蕪

wú

无 + 艹

Definitions

wú (adjective) overgrown with weeds

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 无 represents the sound. Simplified form of 蕪.

Semantic: 艹 Phonetic: 无

About

芜 is a phono-semantic compound with the grass radical 艹 at the top, indicating a plant-related meaning, and the phonetic component 无 (simplified from 無/蕪). It primarily describes land overgrown with weeds, suggesting neglect or lack of cultivation. This literal sense of untended fields expanded to mean barren wasteland or general desolation, and metaphorically came to describe literary or artistic works that are verbose, disorganized, or lacking in clarity and refinement.

Etymology Hide

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

这片土地很荒芜。

Zhè piàn tǔdì hěn huāngwú.

This piece of land is very desolate.

战争后村庄变得荒芜。

Zhànzhēng hòu cūnzhuāng biàn de huāngwú.

After the war, the village became desolate.

他的思路有些芜杂，需要整理。

Tā de sīlù yǒuxiē wúzá, xūyào zhěnglǐ.

His thoughts are somewhat disorderly and need organizing.

妈妈在菜市场买了芜菁。

Māma zài càishìchǎng mǎi le wújīng.

Mom bought turnips at the vegetable market.

那片荒芜的土地上什么也不长。

Nà piàn huāngwú de tǔdì shàng shénme yě bù zhǎng.

Nothing grows on that desolate land.

后院芜秽不堪，无人打理。

Hòuyuàn wúhuì bùkān, wú rén dǎlǐ.

The backyard is terribly overgrown with weeds, and no one takes care of it.

由于长期无人居住，老屋四周早已荒芜。

Yóuyú chángqī wú rén jūzhù, lǎo wū sìzhōu zǎo yǐ huāngwú.

Due to long-term no one living there, the area around the old house has long been desolate.

他的报告内容芜杂，缺乏重点，让人难以理解。

Tā de bàogào nèiróng wúzá, quēfá zhòngdiǎn, ràng rén nányǐ lǐjiě.

The content of his report is miscellaneous, lacking focus, making it hard to understand.

Related Characters

Component: 无

Component: 艹

芜