The word 乏味 is formed through a direct and vivid conceptual combination. The first character, 乏, conveys a sense of lack, exhaustion, or depletion. The second character, 味, means taste, flavor, or interest. By placing them together, the compound visually and notionally presents the state where "taste" or "savor" is depleted or lacking, thus creating the immediate meaning of "dull", "insipid", or "boring". It is a metaphorical extension from the physical realm of flavor to the abstract experience of monotony.