狈

狽
bèi
#3,084 most
frequent character
a legendary wolf, distressed

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

狈 has 犭 (dog, animal) as its meaning part and 贝 bèi as a sound part. It first meant 'a wolf-like animal.' The meaning 'helpless' was borrowed for its sound, and from that came 'in a bad situation.'

Ask DeepSeek

Homophones

HSK 3
背bèi
the back of a body or object
HSK 4
被bèi
by (indicates passive-voice sentences or clauses)
HSK 5
倍bèi
(two, three etc) -fold
辈bèi
generation, lifetime
贝bèi
cowrie, shellfish, currency (archaic)
备bèi
(bound form) to prepare, to equip

Your word lists

Sign in to add this word to your private lists.