Word
貧弱
Meaning in Englishpoor, meager, insubstantial
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Sentence
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Word context
What it means
貧弱 means lacking strength, adequacy, or quality; it describes something or someone as feeble, underpowered, or not up to standard when compared to expectations.
Main meanings
- Indicates insufficient power or robustness in a person or device
- Used to describe subpar performance, materials, or design
- Often seen in formal criticism or technical writing to imply vulnerability or fragility
How to use it
Used in formal and semi formal contexts to describe weak quality or performance of a person, device, or plan; commonly appears in product reviews, technical reports, and academic writing; often followed by 貧弱な before a noun to modify it, such as 貧弱な設計.
Variants and close terms
- 乏しい (とぼしい, toboshii) — scarce, meager
- 薄弱 (はくじゃく, hakujaku) — weak, frail
- 脆弱 (ぜいじゃく, zeijaku) — fragile, brittle
- 頑丈 (がんじょう, ganjou) — robust
Composition
- 貧: poverty, lack; signals scarcity
- 弱: weakness, lack of strength
- Combining them yields the sense of weak due to lack of resources or strength
Word class
adjective (na-adjective)
Word
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