The word "癞皮狗" is formed by combining three characters: 癞, meaning "mange" or a skin disease; 皮, meaning "skin"; and 狗, meaning "dog". The characters 癞 and 皮 together describe a mangy skin condition, which modifies 狗 to create the literal meaning "dog with mangy skin", used figuratively as an insult for a despicable person.