累 lèi tired
exhausted; tired; tiring
How to remember 累: 田 field + 糸 thread = tired. After the football match on the muddy field, the coach is hanging by a thread and utterly tired.
Component breakdown
累 = 田 field + 糸 thread
- 田 field
- 糸 thread
After the football match on the muddy field, the coach is hanging by a thread and utterly tired.
How it came to be
A field over silk. The full form stacks three fields, one plot roped to the next and the next, piling up. Carrying that pile is where the tiredness comes from.
How it is used
- Read lèi = "tired" - 我很累 (wǒ hěn lèi) I'm tired, 累死了 (lèi sǐ le) exhausted. Can also mean "tiring": 这个工作很累 (this job is tiring).
- Read lěi it means to accumulate - 积累 (jīlěi) accumulate, 累积 (lěijī) build up. Same character, very different everyday meaning; let context set the tone.
Characters built with 累
Words with 累
Example sentences
- 她觉得很累。 Tā juéde hěn lèi.She feels very tired.
- 虽然跑得很累，但是很多人都没有放弃。 Suīrán pǎo de hěn lèi, dànshì hěn duō rén dōu méiyǒu fàngqì.Though exhausted from running, many refused to give up.
- 知识要靠阅读来积累。 Zhīshi yào kào yuèdú lái jīlěi.Knowledge is accumulated by reading.