荒 (huāng) - waste, uncultivated & desolate

荒Tone 1

huāng ｜ 9 strokes ｜ radical: 艹

枫惠

荒 · huāng

waste, uncultivated;

desolate;

famine;

scarcity;

indulge, excessive;

inaccurate

waste, uncultivateddesolatefamine

Usage highlights

wastelandfamine yeardesert islandwildernessabsurd theoryneglect studies

Synonyms

  • 芜— overgrown with weeds
  • 废— abandoned, waste
  • 歉— crop failure

Antonyms

  • 熟— cultivated, familiar
  • 丰— abundant, plentiful
  • 精— precise, refined

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The land lies waste (荒芜).
  • They survived the famine (饥荒).
  • Don't indulge in fantasies (荒诞).
  • The desert is desolate (荒凉).

Collocations

  • wasteland(荒地)
  • famine year(荒年)
  • desert island(荒岛)
  • wilderness(荒野)
  • absurd theory(荒谬)
  • neglect studies(荒废学业)

Idioms

  • Absurd and unreasonable(荒谬绝伦)
  • Wild and uninhibited(荒淫无度)
  • Neglecting the root and pursuing the trivial(荒本逐末)
  • Flee from famine(逃荒)
  • Open up wasteland(开荒)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • In agricultural societies, '荒' represented the threat of crop failure and starvation.
  • The character conveys both physical desolation and moral/mental neglect or excess.
  • Historically associated with frontier regions and uncivilized areas in Chinese geography.

FAQ