衰

衰 (Kangxi radical 145, 衣+4, 10 strokes, cangjie input 卜田一女 (YWMV), four-corner 0073₂, composition ⿳亠⏛𧘇 or ⿻哀一)

• 蓑

• KangXi: page 1112, character 14
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 34127
• Dae Jaweon: page 1577, character 21
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3076, character 9
• Unihan data for U+8870

Compare Khmer រៀវ (riəw, “to diminish; to decrease”), Mizo zuai (“to decline (in diligence, enthusiasm, industry, etc.)”) (Schuessler, 2007).

衰

1. to grow weak; to decrease in strength; to decline

   未老先衰  ―  wèilǎoxiānshuāi  ―  to decline in health before becoming old

2. (Cantonese, Hakka, Min) to have bad luck

   人衰行路打倒褪 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

   jan⁴ seoi¹ haang⁴ lou⁶ daa² dou² tan³ [Jyutping]

   when luck is bad, you can’t even walk straight

   衰足五年 [Cantonese]  ―  seoi¹ zuk¹ ng⁵ nin⁴ [Jyutping]  ―  had five years of completely bad luck

3. (Cantonese, Hakka) bad; detestable; awful

   咁衰㗎！ [Cantonese]  ―  gam³ seoi¹ gaa⁴! [Jyutping]  ―  That's awful!

   咁衰都有！ [Cantonese]  ―  gam³ seoi¹ dou¹ jau⁵! [Jyutping]  ―  How can it be this awful!

   做衰嘢 [Cantonese]  ―  zou⁶ seoi¹ je⁵ [Jyutping]  ―  to do bad things

   衰人 [Cantonese]  ―  seoi¹ jan⁴ [Jyutping]  ―  bad person

   衰婆 [Cantonese]  ―  seoi¹ po^4-2 [Jyutping]  ―  bitch

4. (Cantonese) to make a grave mistake

   我衰咗啦！ [Cantonese]  ―  ngo⁵ seoi¹ zo² laa¹! [Jyutping]  ―  I've made a mistake!

   今次唔可以再衰得架喇！ [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

   gam¹ ci³ m⁴ ho² ji⁵ zoi³ seoi¹ dak¹ gaa³ laa³! [Jyutping]

   (We) can’t screw it up anymore this time

   我衰咗三年，我等緊個機會，爭返口氣。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   我衰咗三年，我等紧个机会，争返口气。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   From: 1986, 《英雄本色》 (“A Better Tomorrow”)

   ngo⁵ seoi¹ zo² saam¹ nin⁴, ngo⁵ dang² gan² go³ gei¹ wui⁵, caang¹ faan¹ hau² hei³. [Jyutping]

   I had suffered three years of bad luck, I’m waiting for my turn to get everything back. (In context: spent three years in jail)

5. (Cantonese, transitive) to mess up (something); to be caught for (wrongdoing)

   你衰咩呀？ [Cantonese]  ―  nei⁵ seoi¹ me¹ aa³? [Jyutping]  ―  What did you do wrong?

   我衰邊範啫？／我衰边范啫？ [Cantonese]  ―  ngo⁵ seoi¹ bin¹ faan⁶ ze¹? [Jyutping]  ―  What’s my wrongdoing/offence (often with legal implications)?

   衰十一 [Cantonese]  ―  seoi¹ sap⁶ jat¹ [Jyutping]  ―  to get caught for sex with a minor

   衰販毒／衰贩毒 [Cantonese]  ―  seoi¹ faan³ duk⁶ [Jyutping]  ―  to get caught for drug trafficking

6. (Cantonese) to suffer from faulty personality traits or habits, or commit minor faults with moderate to significant consequences.

   都係我衰心軟。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   都系我衰心软。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   dou¹ hai⁶ ngo⁵ seoi¹ sam¹ jyun⁵. [Jyutping]

   I had been too kind-hearted/forgiving.

   成日衰遲到。／成日衰迟到。 [Cantonese]  ―  sing⁴ jat⁶ seoi¹ ci⁴ dou³. [Jyutping]  ―  He messes up all the time for being late.

   我就係衰在太靚仔。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   我就系衰在太靓仔。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   ngo⁵ zau⁶ hai⁶ seoi¹ zoi⁶ taai³ leng³ zai². [Jyutping]

   My wrong is being too handsome.

• (Cantonese: disagreeable): 好 (hou2)

• (Cantonese: disagreeable): 曳 (jai5), 惡／恶 (ok3)

• → English: suay
• → Indonesian: soe
• → Thai: ซวย (suai)

Schuessler (2007) reconstructs the Old Chinese minimally as *k-sroi, treating it as 衰 (OC *srui) (etymology 1) with the initial *k.

衰

1. ^† to reduce; to decrease in order

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

衰

1. Alternative form of 縗／缞 (cuī, “a type of mourning garment made of sackcloth”).

• “衰”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A03712

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

• Go-on: せ (se); し (shi); すい (sui, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: さい (sai); し (shi); すい (sui, Jōyō)
• On: さ (sa)
• Kun: おとろえる (otoroeru, 衰える, Jōyō)

• 老衰(ろうすい) (rōsui)

衰 • (soe, choe, sa) (hangeul 쇠, 최, 사, revised soe, choe, sa, McCune–Reischauer soe, ch'oe, sa, Yale soy, choy, sa)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

衰: Hán Nôm readings: suy, thôi, thoai

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.