贫乏 pínfá impoverished
impoverished; lacking; deficient; limited; meager; impoverishment; lack; deficiency
How to remember 贫乏: 贫 poor + 乏 poor = impoverished.
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How it is used
- Impoverished/lacking - especially of abstract things - 知识贫乏 (zhīshi pínfá) lacking in knowledge; 内容贫乏 (nèiróng pínfá) thin on content.
- Often figurative: a deficiency of ideas, resources, imagination - not just material poverty.
- Contrast 贫穷 (pínqióng, materially poor); 贫乏 more commonly describes scarcity of intangibles.