萧条 xiāotiáo bleak
bleak; desolate; (economics) in a slump; sluggish; depressed
How to remember 萧条: 萧 mournful + 条 strip = bleak.
Characters
How it is used
- Two linked senses: physically desolate/bleak - 一片萧条 (yí piàn xiāotiáo) an utterly desolate scene; and economically depressed - 经济萧条 (jīngjì xiāotiáo) economic depression/slump.
- For economies it's stronger and bleaker than 衰退 (shuāituì, recession/decline); 萧条 evokes a lifeless, deserted feel.
- Written, literary/formal register.