蕪 (wú) - Overgrown with weeds & luxuriant but disorderly growth

蕪Tone 2

wú ｜ 15 strokes ｜ radical:

万响

蕪 · wú

Overgrown with weeds;

luxuriant but disorderly growth;

tangled vegetation;

desolate or uncultivated land;

also used to describe writing that is verbose or lacking substance.

Overgrown with weedsluxuriant but disorderly growthtangled vegetation

Usage highlights

Desolate fieldsVerbose writingOvergrown and weedySuperfluous wordsTangled and confusedRemove the superfluous

Synonyms

  • 荒— desolate, barren
  • 雜— mixed, miscellaneous (in the sense of disorder)
  • 穢— dirty, weedy

Antonyms

  • 整— neat, orderly
  • 潔— clean, pure
  • 簡— simple, concise

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The garden was overgrown with weeds (荒蕪).
  • He writes in a verbose and tangled style (蕪雜).
  • The fields lay desolate and uncultivated (蕪穢).
  • The essay was full of superfluous words (蕪詞).

Collocations

  • Desolate fields(荒蕪)
  • Verbose writing(蕪雜)
  • Overgrown and weedy(蕪穢)
  • Superfluous words(蕪詞)
  • Tangled and confused(蕪亂)
  • Remove the superfluous(刪蕪就簡)

Idioms

  • Remove the superfluous and retain the essential(刪蕪就簡)
  • Desolate fields and abandoned gardens(蕪園廢苑)
  • Tangled and confused, lacking clear organization(蕪雜無章)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • In classical Chinese literature, '蕪' often appears in descriptions of abandoned or neglected landscapes, evoking a sense of melancholy and decay.
  • The character is also used metaphorically in literary criticism to describe prose or poetry that is overly verbose, cluttered, or lacking in refinement.
  • In agricultural contexts, it represents the antithesis of cultivated, orderly land, symbolizing neglect or natural reclamation.

FAQ