荒

huāng

desolate

shortage; scarce; out of practice; absurd; uncultivated; to neglect

wild grass (芒) + river (川) = desolate, uncultivated land

芒 evokes rank, untamed grass spreading without check. 川 mainly lends the sound huāng; together they conjure land gone wild and unworked.

芒+川→荒
川RiverPhonetic
芒Awn of grainSemantic

这片土地荒了很多年,没有人耕种。

zhè piàn tǔ dì huāng le hěn duō nián, méi yǒu rén gēng zhòng。

This piece of land has been uncultivated for many years, with no one farming it.

他好久没练琴,手都荒了。

tā hǎo jiǔ méi liàn qín, shǒu dōu huāng le。

He hasn't practiced the piano for a long time, and his skills have gone rusty.

Words with 荒

天荒地老

tiān huāng dì lǎo

(idiom) until the end of time

垦荒

kěn huāng

to open up land (for agriculture)

逃荒

táo huāng

to escape from a famine

遐荒

xiá huāng

out-of-the-way places

开荒

kāi huāng

to open up land (for agriculture)

电荒

diàn huāng

shortage of electricity

饥荒

jī huāng

crop failure

碱荒

jiǎn huāng

alkali wasteland

备荒

bèi huāng

to prepare against natural disasters

兵荒马乱

bīng huāng mǎ luàn

(idiom) war-torn; ravaged by war; in a state of utter chaos

凶荒

xiōng huāng

(literary) famine

剧荒

jù huāng

(neologism c. 2016) no tv shows to watch

More characters with 芒

硭铓