HSK 6 · Emotions

无精打采 wújīngdǎcǎi “listless” in Chinese

Said as wújīngdácǎi

Traditional 無精打采

What 无精打采 means

  1. listless
  2. in low spirits
  3. dispirited and downcast (idiom)
  4. washed out

How to say 无精打采

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale无wú2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale精jīng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale打dǎ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale采cǎi3rd tone, dipping

Said as wújīngdácǎi. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. How tone changes work

无精打采 in a sentence

  1. 他昨晚没睡好，今天一直无精打采的。

    Tā zuówǎn méi shuì hǎo, jīntiān yìzhí wújīngdǎcǎi de.

    He didn’t sleep well last night and has been listless all day.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 天气太热了，小狗无精打采地躺在地上。

    Tiānqì tài rè le, xiǎogǒu wújīngdǎcǎi de tǎng zài dìshang.

    It was so hot that the puppy lay listlessly on the ground.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 无精打采 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 无 (wú) with each of its parts in a different colour
无wúnot to have
  • 一one · yī
  • 尢lame · wāng
The character 精 (jīng) with each of its parts in a different colour
精jīngessence
  • 米rice · mǐMeaning part
  • 青blue-green · qīngSound part

米 hints at the meaning (rice); 青 (qīng) hints at the sound. Compare it with jīng.

The character 打 (dǎ) with each of its parts in a different colour
打dǎto hit; to strike
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
  • 丁part of the characterSound part

Memory aidA hand 扌 striking a nail 丁: to hit. It is now used for many actions, such as 打电话 (dǎ diànhuà) “to phone”.

The character 采 (cǎi) with each of its parts in a different colour
采cǎito pick
  • 爫claw form of 爪 · zhǎo
  • 木tree · mù

How to write 无精打采

无 4 strokes · 精 14 strokes · 打 5 strokes · 采 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

无精打采 (wújīngdǎcǎi) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 无精打采 (wújīngdǎcǎi). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 无精打采

Words with 无

无wú · not to have无聊wúliáo · bored无论wúlùn · no matter what or how无法wúfǎ · to be unable to无奈wúnài · to have no alternative无数wúshù · countless无所谓wúsuǒwèi · to not matter无赖wúlài · rogue无比wúbǐ · incomparable无耻wúchǐ · shameless

Words with 精

精彩jīngcǎi · wonderful精力jīnglì · energy精神jīngshén · spirit精简jīngjiǎn · to streamline精密jīngmì · precise精确jīngquè · accurate精心jīngxīn · meticulous精致jīngzhì · exquisite精通jīngtōng · to be proficient in酒精jiǔjīng · alcohol

Words with 打

打电话dǎ diànhuà · to make a phone call打dǎ · to hit打车dǎchē · to take a taxi (in town)打开dǎkāi · to open打篮球dǎlánqiú · to play basketball打扫dǎsǎo · to clean打算dǎsuàn · to plan打扮dǎban · to decorate打扰dǎrǎo · to disturb打印dǎyìn · to print (with a printer)

Words with 采

采取cǎiqǔ · to adopt or carry out (measures采访cǎifǎng · to interview采纳cǎinà · to adopt采集cǎijí · to gather采购cǎigòu · to purchase (for an organisation)开采kāicǎi · to mine兴高采烈xìnggāocǎiliè · in high spirits

More words: Emotions & Attitudes

惋惜wǎnxī · to regret畏惧wèijù · to fear为难wéinán · to make things difficult (for)无动于衷wúdòngyúzhōng · unmoved无忧无虑wúyōuwúlǜ · carefree嫌xián · to dislike向往xiàngwǎng · to yearn for泄气xièqì · to lose heart

FAQs

无精打采 (wújīngdǎcǎi) means “listless” or “in low spirits”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it wújīngdǎcǎi: wú with a 2nd tone, then jīng with a 1st tone, then dǎ with a 3rd tone, then cǎi with a 3rd tone. In speech it sounds like wújīngdácǎi. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 无精打采 is written 無精打采. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type wujingdacai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 无精打采 from the suggestions. Typing wujingdacai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
无精打采 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.