CANTONESE ↔ ENGLISH · CC-CANTO

衰

Cantonese · source Jyutpingseoi1#

(adjective) 1. Ugly-looking; 2. bad (people); (adjective) 1. being caught by doing something wrong; 2. Fail

Cantonese · source Jyutpingceoi1#

hierarchy
in declining order

Cantonese · source Jyutpingseoi1#

to decline
to wane
to become weak or feeble
to go downhill
irritating
annoying
disgusting
unpleasant
nasty-looking
ugly
bad
to fail
to make a mistake
to lose face
to be caught doing something wrong
mean
to be a jerk
terrible
to be down on luck
useless
to be arrested or convicted of an offense
to screw up
to fail on

About these definitions

Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.

Full entryShow on map

Reading & tones

seoi11 · high level

ceoi11 · high level

Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.

Same syllable, six tones

seoi须seoi1must 水seoi2water 税seoi3taxes 垂seoi4to hang 绪seoi5beginnings 瑞seoi6lucky

Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.

Explore words with this reading ↗

Written characters

衰

Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.

Cantonese characters and the Mandarin bridge ↗

Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:

衰 cuī CC-CEDICT · Mandarinvariant of 縗 cuī
衰 shuāi CC-CEDICT · Mandarin(bound form) to decay; to decline; to wane

A separate source entry, shown for comparison. The same characters can carry different senses in Mandarin and in Cantonese; zimai does not align these senses.

CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: shuai1. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 10 senses · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ceoi1 · seoi1

Cantonese word readings for 衰. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character · Etymology 1

to grow weak; to decrease in strength; to decline
(Cantonese, Hakka, Min) to have bad luck
(Cantonese, Hakka) bad; detestable; awful
(Cantonese) to make a grave mistake
(Cantonese, transitive) to mess up (something); to be caught for (wrongdoing)
(Cantonese) to suffer from faulty personality traits or habits, or commit minor faults with moderate to significant consequences.

character · Etymology 2

(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to reduce; to decrease in order

character · Etymology 3

(alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 縗 /缞 (cuī, “a type of mourning garment made of sackcloth”)
(archaic, borrowing) alternative form of 崔 (cuī, “a surname”)
(archaic, borrowing) alternative form of 崔 (cuī, “a surname”) — used in 衰子/title for 崔杼 (as found in a bronze pot inscription)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack