bèn

stupid

foolish; silly; slow-witted; clumsy

bamboo (⺮) + root/base (本) = stiff and slow-witted

本 mainly gives the sound bèn; the bamboo radical carries the meaning. Bamboo is rigid and cannot adapt — a fitting image for a mind that is stiff and slow.

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BambooSemantic
RootPhonetic

他学东西很慢,有点

tā xué dōng xi hěn màn, yǒu diǎn bèn.

He learns things very slowly; he is a bit slow-witted.

我不,只是需要多练习。

wǒ bù bèn, zhǐ shì xū yào duō liàn xí.

I am not stupid; I just need more practice.

Words with 笨

呆笨

dāi bèn

dimwitted

嘴笨

zuǐ bèn

inarticulate

大笨象

dà bèn xiàng

(slang) elephant

心拙口笨

xīn zhuō kǒu bèn

dull-witted and tongue-tied

愚笨

yú bèn

stupid

拙嘴笨舌

zhuō zuǐ bèn shé

lit. clumsy mouth and broken tongue (idiom); awkward speaker

拙笨

zhuō bèn

clumsy

笨人

bèn rén

fool

笨伯

bèn bó

fool

笨到家了

bèn dào jiā le

extremely stupid

笨口拙舌

bèn kǒu zhuō shé

awkward in speech

笨嘴拙腮

bèn zuǐ zhuō sāi

see 笨嘴拙舌[ben4 zui3 zhuo1 she2]

More characters with ⺮