糟 zāo
- Strokes
- 17
- Radical
- 米 — rice, millet, grain
- Made of
- 米 rice, millet, grain 曹 ministers, officials
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
糟蹋
zāotà
to waste; to ruin; to mistreat
Characters in this word
蹋 tà
- Strokes
- 17
- Radical
- 足 — foot
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
Example phrases
- 把有限的公共资金花在面子工程上，等于糟蹋纳税人的信任。 Bǎ yǒuxiàn de gōnggòng zījīn huā zài miànzi gōngchéng shàng, děngyú zāotà nàshuìrén de xìnrèn. Spending limited public funds on vanity projects is tantamount to wasting taxpayers' trust.
- 别糟蹋粮食，每一粒米都来之不易。 Bié zāotà liángshi, měi yī lì mǐ dōu lái zhī bù yì. Don't waste food; every grain of rice is hard won.
- 他把好端端的布料糟蹋了，剪得乱七八糟。 Tā bǎ hǎoduānduān de bùliào zāotà le, jiǎn de luànqībāzāo. He ruined perfectly good fabric by cutting it up into a mess.
Related words
- 糟 zāo bad; awful
- 糟糕 zāogāo terrible
- 乱七八糟 luànqībāzāo in a complete mess; all in disorder
- 糟粕 zāopò dross; useless residue
- 萧条 xiāotiáo depressed; bleak; desolate
- 雪上加霜 xuěshàngjiāshuāng to make matters worse; to add frost to snow
- 一事无成 yíshìwúchéng to achieve nothing; to accomplish nothing
- 走投无路 zǒutóuwúlù to be at the end of one’s rope; to have no way out
- 一无所有 yìwúsuǒyǒu to have nothing at all
- 走弯路 zǒuwānlù to take a detour; to go the wrong way; to make avoidable mistakes
- 一筹莫展 yìchóumòzhǎn to be at one’s wits’ end
- 阻力 zǔlì resistance; obstruction