瘦

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thin; to lose weight; (of clothing) tight; (of meat) lean; (of land) unproductive

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Formation & memory

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Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

疒 meaning “sickness” + 叟 sound ( sǒu )

Components 疒叟

emaciated · Heisig RSH #2967

sickness + cake mixer

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
瘦巴巴	shòu bā bā	thin; scrawny; emaciated
面黄肌瘦	miàn huáng jī shòu	(lit.) face yellow and body emaciated (idiom); (fig.) malnourished and sickly in appearanc…
瘦肉精	shòu ròu jīng	leanness-enhancing agent (for livestock)
脸黄肌瘦	liǎn huáng jī shòu	see 面黃肌瘦\|面黄肌瘦[mian4 huang2 ji1 shou4]
骨瘦如柴	gǔ shòu rú chái	(idiom) as thin as a match; emaciated
瘦子	shòu zi	thin person
瘦小	shòu xiǎo	slightly-built; petite
瘦死的骆驼比马大	shòu sǐ de luò tuo bǐ mǎ dà	lit. even a scrawny camel is bigger than a horse (idiom); fig. even after suffering a loss…
瘦长	shòu cháng	slim
瘦身	shòu shēn	to lose weight (intentionally); to slim down; (fig.) to downsize (a business, project etc)
清瘦	qīng shòu	meager
干瘦	gān shòu	wizened; skinny and shriveled
精瘦	jīng shòu	(coll.) lean (figure, meat etc); slender
瘦肉	shòu ròu	lean meat
消瘦	xiāo shòu	to waste away; to become thin
暴瘦	bào shòu	to lose weight dramatically
周瘦鹃	Zhōu Shòu juān	Zhou Shoujuan (1895-1968), writer, translator and art collector in Suzhou, a victim of the…
高矮胖瘦	gāo ǎi pàng shòu	one's physique (tall or short, thin or fat); stature
纤瘦	xiān shòu	slender; slim as a thread
骨瘦如豺	gǔ shòu rú chái	variant of 骨瘦如柴[gu3 shou4 ru2 chai2]

Characters sharing the sound component 叟 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
叟 sound part	sǒu	old man; elder
搜	sōu	to seek, to search, to investigate
嫂	sǎo	sister-in-law, elder brother's wife
飕	sōu	a chill breeze; to blow; the sound of the wind
嗖	sōu	a whizzing sound
溲	sōu	to urinate; to soak, to drench
螋	sōu	earwig, millipede, spider
鄋	sōu	a county in Shandong province
艘	sōu	measure word for ships or vessels
锼	sōu	to carve