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Kanji Detail for 乏 - "scarce, poor"

乏

  • Meaning

    乏 means "scarce, poor." Also associated with exhausted.

    1. Scarce - In short supply; lacking.

    2. Poor - Having little; deficient.

    3. Exhausted - Depleted of resources.

  • Words using 乏

    • 乏しい とぼしい Listen meagre; meager; scarce
    • 貧乏人 びんぼうにん Listen poor person; the poor

  • Four-character idioms with 乏

    • 器用貧乏 きようびんぼう Listen jack of all trades, master of none
    • 困苦欠乏 こんくけつぼう Listen hardships and privations
    • 困苦窮乏 こんくきゅうぼう Listen hardships and privations
    • 耐乏生活 たいぼうせいかつ Listen hard life; life of austerity

  • Tattoo check: 乏

    • Verified meaning: scarce, poor
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read すえたけ, ほうかく)
    • Also carries these associations: exhausted

    A single kanji rarely maps one-to-one onto an English word. Read the meanings and associations above as a set — a character that fits the dictionary definition can still carry a connotation you did not intend.

  • Name readings of 乏

    Surnames 乏(すえたけ)Listen 乏(ほうかく)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    destitution; scarce; limited

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    lack; poor

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    short of; tired

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    poor; short, lacking; tired

    XSZD Xuéshēng Zìdiǎn (學生字典) - Student's Dictionary

    To lack. Temporarily lacking is called 乏. Hence temporarily taking someone's position is called 承乏. The expression originates from (Zuo Zhuan). | Poor. Traveling without resources is called 乏. Such as 困乏 (exhausted and poor), 窮乏 (impoverished). | Fatigued is called 乏. Such as when a host thanks a guest, saying 道乏 (expressing fatigue from the journey).

  • Onyomi

    tip

    boh(ボウ) ボウ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    tobo.shii(とぼ-しい) とぼ-しい

    tomo.shii(とも-しい) とも-しい

  • Strokes

    tip

    4 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    丿 (no・haraibo)

  • Related Keywords

    scarce poor exhausted insufficient spent scarcity shortage deficient lack meager limited sparse depleted inadequate

Sentences including 乏

  • He looks as poor as ever.

  • He didn't like being poor.

  • You don't have to beat your way.

  • He is as poor as can be.

  • He doesn't know what it is to be poor.

  • He doesn't know what it is to be poor.

  • He is said to be very poor.

  • Because all his friends were poor , too.

  • I'm poor.

  • They are as poor as can be.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 丿 (no・haraibo)

See all kanji with this radical →

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