赖

Tap the pinyin to hear it

to depend on; to hang on in a place; bad; to renege (on promise); to disclaim; to rat (on debts); rascally; to blame; to put the blame on

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

贝 meaning “money” + 剌 sound ( là )

Components 剌贝

rely on · Heisig RSH #2654

bundle + 负 defeated

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
好死不如赖活着	hǎo sǐ bù rú lài huó zhe	better a bad life than a good death (idiom)
死气白赖	sǐ qi bái lài	variant of 死乞白賴\|死乞白赖[si3 qi5 bai2 lai4]
奥尔布赖特	Ào ěr bù lài tè	Madeleine Albright (1937–2022), US Secretary of State 1997–2001
信赖区间	xìn lài qū jiān	(statistics) confidence interval
富布赖特	fù bù lài tè	Fulbright (scholarship)
赖清德	Lài Qīng dé	William Lai Ching-te (1959-), Taiwanese DPP politician, vice president of the Republic of …
死皮赖脸	sǐ pí lài liǎn	brazen faced (idiom); shameless
城市依赖症	chéng shì yī lài zhèng	"urban dependence disease" (sufferers are unwilling to give up city comforts and return to…
有赖于	yǒu lài yú	see 有賴\|有赖[you3 lai4]
克赖斯特彻奇	Kè lài sī tè chè qí	Christchurch (New Zealand city)
赖声川	Lài Shēng chuān	Lai Shengchuan (1954-), US-Taiwanese dramatist and director
不赖	bù lài	(coll.) not bad; good; fine
源赖朝	Yuán Lài cháo	MINAMOTO no Yoritomo (1147-1199), Japanese warlord and founder of the Kamakura shogunate 鐮…
赖斯	Lài sī	Rice (name); Condoleezza Rice (1954-) US Secretary of State 2005-2009
无赖	wú lài	hoodlum; rascal; rogue; rascally; scoundrelly
有赖	yǒu lài	(of an outcome) to rely on; to require; can only be achieved by means of
赖安	Lài ān	Ryan (name)
赖比瑞亚	Lài bǐ ruì yà	Liberia (Tw)
赖特	Lài tè	Wright (name)
打赖	dǎ lài	to deny; to disclaim; to disavow

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

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
剌 sound part	là	to slash, to cut in two; to contradict
喇	lā	horn, bugle; llama; final particle
瘌	là	scabies, itching, scald-head