繁

fán

complicated

many; in great numbers; abbr. for 繁體|繁体[fan2 ti3], traditional form of Chinese characters

agile (敏) + silk threads (糸) = complicated and many

糸 (silk thread) carries the meaning: tangled, multiplying threads evoke complexity and abundance. 敏 contributes the sound fán rather than its meaning of 'agile.'

敏+糸→繁
敏AgilePhonetic
糸Silk threadSemantic

这些手续太繁琐了,能简化一下吗?

zhè xiē shǒu xù tài fán suǒ le,néng jiǎn huà yī xià ma?

These procedures are too complicated; can they be simplified a bit?

城市里车来人往,十分繁忙。

chéng shì lǐ chē lái rén wǎng,shí fēn fán máng。

In the city, vehicles and people come and go, making it very busy.

Words with 繁

频繁

pín fán

frequently

繁复

fán fù

complicated

驯养繁殖

xùn yǎng fán zhí

domestication and breeding

驯养繁殖场

xùn yǎng fán zhí chǎng

captive breeding facility; breeding farm

事务繁忙

shì wù fán máng

to be swamped with pressing affairs; to be snowed under with work

冗繁

rǒng fán

miscellaneous

卷帙浩繁

juàn zhì hào fán

a huge amount (of books and papers)

名目繁多

míng mù fán duō

names of many kinds (idiom); items of every description

春秋繁露

chūn qiū fán lù

Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals, ideological tract by Han dynasty political philosopher Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒[Dong3 Zhong4 shu1]

曾繁仁

zēng fán rén

Zeng Fanren, president of Shandong University from February 1998 until July 2000

枝繁叶茂

zhī fán yè mào

(of plants) to grow luxuriantly; (fig.) (of a family or business etc) to prosper; to flourish

浩繁

hào fán

vast

More characters with 敏

鳘