寡
guǎ
Pinyin

Definition

寡
 - 
guǎ
  1. few
  2. scant
  3. widowed

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

寡妇
guǎ fu
  1. 1 widow
多寡
duō guǎ
  1. 1 number
  2. 2 amount
孤家寡人
gū jiā guǎ rén
  1. 1 one who is cut off from others (idiom)
  2. 2 one who has chosen to follow a solitary path
  3. 3 (can also be an indirect way of referring to an unmarried person)
孤寡
gū guǎ
  1. 1 orphans and widows
  2. 2 to be lonely
  3. 3 loneliness
寡人
guǎ rén
  1. 1 I (first person pronoun used by royalty or nobility)

Idioms (15)

不患寡而患不均
bù huàn guǎ ér huàn bù jūn
  1. 1 do not worry about scarcity, but rather about uneven distribution (idiom, from Analects)
刻薄寡恩
kè bó guǎ ēn
  1. 1 harsh and merciless (idiom)
失道寡助
shī dào guǎ zhù
  1. 1 an unjust cause finds little support (idiom, from Mencius)
  2. 2 cf 得道多助[dé dào duō zhù] a just cause attracts much support
孤家寡人
gū jiā guǎ rén
  1. 1 one who is cut off from others (idiom)
  2. 2 one who has chosen to follow a solitary path
  3. 3 (can also be an indirect way of referring to an unmarried person)
寡不敌众
guǎ bù dí zhòng
  1. 1 the few are no match for the many
  2. 2 heavily outnumbered
  3. 3 facing impossible odds (idiom)

Sample Sentences

打打那以后，爸爸就发现了一件怪事。他观察到他那三岁的儿子变得沉默寡言，很怕见生人。而且还有意无意地一直盯着自己，眼神中充满了疑惑。问他，他也不说。
dǎ dǎ nà yǐhòu ，bàba jiù fāxiàn le yījiàn guàishì 。tā guānchá dào tā nà sānsuì de érzi biàn de chénmòguǎyán ，hěn pà jiàn shēngrén 。érqiě hái yǒuyìwúyì de yīzhí dīng zhe zìjǐ ，yǎnshén zhōng chōngmǎn le yíhuò 。wèn tā ，tā yě bù shuō 。
After that, Daddy discovered something strange. He noticed that his three year-old son had become sullen and withdrawn, and afraid of meeting new people. Wittingly or unwittingly, he was always staring. His eyes were full of doubt. If you asked him about it, he wouldn't say anything.
Go to Lesson 
他倒是没谈过全球化，不过他的理想世界是“小国寡民”，还有“邻国相望，鸡犬相闻，民至老死不相往来”，你说呢？
tā dào shì méi tán guo quánqiúhuà ，búguò tā de lǐxiǎng shìjiè shì “xiǎo guó guǎ mín ”，háiyǒu “línguó xiāng wàng ，jī quǎn xiāng wén ，mín zhì lǎo sǐ bù xiāng wǎnglái ”，nǐ shuō ne ？
I'm certain he didn't mention globalization, but his ideal world was a "little state with a small population," and he said that a neighbouring state should be within sight, and the voices of the fowls and dogs should be heard all the way from one state to the other, but that the people up until old age or even to death should not have any intercourse with the other state.
Go to Lesson 
一个管理严格的国家，它的人民一定狡猾。“小国寡民”才是理想的国家：国土小，人口少，不用交通工具，人民不用迁徙，不用学习文化知识，靠着纯真善良的本性，过简朴的生活。人民没有什么需求，国家就不用设立严厉的刑法，也就没有战争和冲突，用不着武器和军队。在自己国家就可以看到邻国，听到鸡鸣狗吠，但从生到死都不来往。
yī ge guǎnlǐ yángé de guójiā ，tā de rénmín yīdìng jiǎohuá 。“xiǎoguóguǎmín ”cái shì lǐxiǎng de guójiā ：guótǔ xiǎo ，rénkǒu shǎo ，bùyòng jiāotōng gōngjù ，rénmín bùyòng qiānxǐ ，bùyòng xuéxí wénhuà zhīshi ，kàozhe chúnzhēn shànliáng de běnxìng ，guò jiǎnpǔ de shēnghuó 。rénmín méiyǒu shénme xūqiú ，guójiā jiù bùyòng shèlì yánlì de xíngfǎ ，yě jiù méiyǒu zhànzhēng hé chōngtū ，yòngbuzháo wǔqì hé jūnduì 。zài zìjǐ guójiā jiù kěyǐ kàndào línguó ，tīngdào jī míng gǒu fèi ，dàn cóng shēng dào sǐ dōu bù láiwǎng 。
A country ruled with an iron fist will have devious citizens. "A small country with few citizens" is ideal with a small land area and small population. There is no need for conveyances and the people needn't migrate or move. There's no need for formal education. It relies on pure and honest human nature; life is plain and simple. The people need nothing, so the country has no need to establish a strict penal system. There will be no war or conflict, so there will be no need for weapons or soldiers. Neighboring countries can be seen and the sounds of their villages heard, but during their lives the people will have no interaction with them.
Go to Lesson 
老人能得到良好的照顾当然很好。可是如果社会发展跟不上，社会福利得不到保证，人们不能安居乐业，又有谁来照顾那些孤寡老人呢？如果老年人越来越多，不是会给社会带来巨大压力吗？
lǎorén néng dédào liánghǎo de zhàogu dāngrán hěn hǎo 。kěshì rúguǒ shèhuì fāzhǎn gēn bu shàng ，shèhuì fúlì dé bu dào bǎozhèng ，rénmen bùnéng ānjūlèyè ，yòu yǒu shéi lái zhàogu nàxiē gūguǎ lǎorén ne ？rúguǒ lǎoniánrén yuèláiyuèduō ，bùshì huì gěi shèhuì dàilái jùdà yālì ma ？
Of course it's great that the elderly can enjoy excellent care. But if social development can't keep up, there will be no guarantee of social welfare. People won't be able to live contentedly. And who will take care of those lonely old people? If there are more old people all the time, won't it put huge pressure on society?
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你这句话说得太对了。女人一辈子都要受这些没人性的道德标准约束。在琼瑶剧里就有好多这样的苦命女人，不守寡就会被拉到牌坊下面，罚跪啊，挨打啊，受人唾弃啊，被砸臭鸡蛋啊，受尽折磨。
nǐ zhè jù huà shuō de tài duì le 。nǚrén yībèizi dōu yào shòu zhèxiē méi rénxìng de dàodé biāozhǔn yuēshù 。zài Qióngyáo jù lǐ jiù yǒu hǎo duō zhèyàng de kǔmìng nǚrén ，bù shǒuguǎ jiù huì bèi lādào páifāng xiàmian ，fáguì a ，áidǎ a ，shòu rén tuòqì a ，bèi zá chòujīdàn a ，shòu jìn zhémó 。
You're so right. Women are bound by these inhumane ethical standards their whole lives. In qiong yao dramas there are many of these kinds of pitiable women. They choose not to remain widows, so they get dragged to the base of these arches and are punished. They're forced to kneel and get beaten, they get rotten eggs thrown at them, and they're spurned by everyone. They endure a lot of persecution.
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做古代的女人也太惨了吧。公平起见，应该让男人也要“守寡”。
zuò gǔdài de nǚrén yě tài cǎn le ba 。gōngpíng qǐjiàn ，yīnggāi ràng nánrén yě yào “shǒuguǎ ”。
Women of ancient times are so pitiful. Men should have to "remain widows" too for fairness's sake.
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因为贞节牌坊是专门赐给那些年纪轻轻就死了老公而且坚决不改嫁，在婆家守寡到老的女人。
yīnwèi zhēnjié páifāng shì zhuānmén cìgěi nàxiē niánjìqīngqīng jiù sǐ le lǎogōng érqiě jiānjué bù gǎijià ，zài pójiā shǒuguǎ dào lǎo de nǚrén 。
Because chastity arches are bestowed specifically upon young women who refuse to get married after their husband is dead; they remain with their husband's family a widow even until they're an old woman.
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啊？恕我孤陋寡闻，其实我一直不懂人类学到底是研究什么的？
á ？shù wǒ gūlòuguǎwén ，qíshí wǒ yīzhí bù dǒng rénlèixué dàodǐ shì yánjiū shénme de ？
What? Excuse my ignorance, I actually never knew what anthropology is all about.
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什么寡妇年？
shénme guǎfu nián ？
What's a 'widow's year'?
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我妈跟我说，明年是寡妇年。
wǒ mā gēn wǒ shuō ，míngnián shì guǎfu nián 。
My mom told me that next year is a 'widow's year'.
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