狈

狽

bèi

犭 + 贝

Definitions

bèi a legendary wolf; distressed; wretched

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 犭 represents the meaning and 贝 represents the sound. Simplified form of 狽.

Semantic: 犭 Phonetic: 贝

About

狈 is the simplified form of 狽, a phonosemantic compound with the beast radical 犭 on the left and the phonetic 贝 (originally 貝) on the right. The character once denoted a mythical wolf-like beast whose forelegs were so short that it had to ride on the back of an ordinary wolf. Out of this mutual dependence, the pair 狼狈 (wolf and bei) came to signify two unscrupulous people scheming together to do harm.

Etymology Hide

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Bronze Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

今天他很狼狈。

Jīntiān tā hěn lángbèi.

Today he is in a sorry state.

他逃跑时很狼狈。

Tā táopǎo shí hěn lángbèi.

He was in a sorry state when he ran away.

下雨让他变得狼狈。

Xiàyǔ ràng tā biàn dé lángbèi.

The rain made him become disheveled.

他浑身湿透，样子很狼狈。

Tā húnshēn shītòu, yàngzi hěn lángbèi.

He was soaked all over and looked very狼狈.

尽管狼狈，他依然坚持完成了任务。

Jǐnguǎn lángbèi, tā yīrán jiānchí wánchéngle rènwù.

Despite being in a sorry state, he still persisted and completed the task.

他从未如此狼狈过，这次真是丢脸。

Tā cóngwèi rúcǐ lángbèi guò, zhè cì zhēnshi diūliǎn.

He has never been so狼狈 before; this time it's really embarrassing.

看到他那副狼狈的模样，大家都忍不住笑了。

Kàndào tā nà fù lángbèi de múyàng, dàjiā dōu rěn bù zhù xiào le.

Seeing his狼狈 appearance, everyone couldn't help but laugh.

在众目睽睽之下，他摔了一跤，显得十分狼狈。

Zài zhòngmùkuíkuí zhī xià, tā shuāile yī jiāo, xiǎndé shífēn lángbèi.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he fell and looked very狼狈.

Related Characters

Component: 犭

Component: 贝

狈