Taxonomy of meanings for 少:　　

Additional information about 少

說文解字: 【少】，不多也。从小、丿聲。 【書沿切】

Criteria
• OFTEN
  

  1. The current general word for high frequency of an event within a certain period of time is shuò 數 " several times in a row" (xī 希 "rarely").

  2. Lu# 屢 "quite a few times" (ant. hǎn 罕 "very seldom") indicates that an event has many precursors similar to it in the past, and the word does not emphasise the high frequency.

  3. Qì 亟 and pín 頻 "very often" (ant.* ǒu 偶 "on and off") are probably more intensitive than shuò 數.

  4. Zòu 驟 "repeatedly, within a short period of time" (ant. shū 疏 "at long intervals") is more temporary in nature.

  5. Cháng 常 (ant. xiǎn 鮮 "quite rarely, in the natural course of events") refers to fequency as a symptom of something being ordinary and only to be expected.

  6. Duō 多 (ant. shǎo 少 "a few times, few times") is a colourless word indicating that something is of generally frequent occurrence.

• DESPISE
  

  1. The most widely used general word for contempt is qīng 輕 (ant. zhòng 重 "rate as important"), and the word typically describes an attitude based on a critical judgment. See also UNIMPORTANT

  2. Yì 易 (ant. zhòng 重 "treat as important") focusses on the subjective failure to take someone or something seriously and does not necessarily involve a critical judgment.

  3. Bēi 卑 (ant. zūn 尊 "venerate as distinguished") refers to regarding a person as characterised by his or her low social standing.

  4. Jiàn 賤 (guì 貴 "hold in high esteem" and jìng 敬 "respect") are to regard someone as vulgar, and typically as of slight moral worth.

  5. Hòu 後 (ant. xiān 先 "put first") is to fail to show proper respect for someone.

  6. Xiǎo 小 and shǎo 少 (ant. duō 多 "rate highly") expresses a negative judgment on the significance of a person or thing.

  7. Ào 傲 adds the nuance of arrogance to the notion of contempt.

  8. Miè 蔑 "to regard someone with no respect" describes a purely psychological attitude.

  9.Mà4n 慢 refers to a demonstrative failure to show proper respect for someone.

  10. Dú 瀆 refers to a disrespectful attitude or disregard for someone or something.

• REDUCE
  

  1. The current general word for diminishing or lessening anything in any way is sǔn 損 (ant. yì 益 "increase, improve")..

  2. Kuī 虧 (ant. yíng 盈 "cause to become more plentiful") refers to impairing a typically abstract or at least subtle thing.

  3. Jiǎn 減 (ant. zēng 增 "increase") typically refers to a reduction in the intensitity or in the number of something.

  4. Shǎo 少 is used to refer to the reducing the number of things. See FEW

• LITTLE
  

  1. The standard word for a small quantity of some stuff is guǎ 寡.

  2. Shǎo 少 can also be used to a small quantity of stuff.

• SLIGHTLY
  

  1. The most common word for something happening on a very small scale is shǎo 少 (ant. duō 多 "a great deal").

  2. Guǎ 寡 tends to focus on the excessive nuance, on something happening to a lesser degree than needed.

  3. Báo 薄 (ant. hòu 厚 "intensely") focusses on something happening to a lesser degree than a conventional standard would indicate or prescribe.

• MANY
  

  1. The dominant word referring to numerousness and a large quantity of a stuff is duō 多 (ant. shǎo 少 ).

  2. Zhòng 眾 (ant. guǎ 寡 "few") and zhū 諸 refer to a large number of items of a certain kind.

  3. Shù 庶 (ant. shǎo 少 "few") refers to a large number of typically animate and preferably human beings.

  4. Fēn 紛 and the rarer yún yún 紜紜 refer to a confusing assembly of many things.

  5. Shù 數 (ant.* dú 獨 "the only one" or * dān 單 ) refers to a fairly large number of things of a specified kind.

  6. Fán 繁 refers to a large number of proliferating things.

  7. Zhēng 烝 is a poetic word characterising the large size of a population.

• BEAUTIFUL
  

  [ABSOLUTE/GRADED]

  [ACOUSTIC/VISUAL]

  [ARTIFICIAL/NATURAL]

  [[COMMON/RARE]]

  [ELEVATED/VULGAR]

  [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

  [HUMAN/NON-HUMAN]

  [POETIC/PROSAIC]

  1. The general word is měi 美 "handsome and admirable" (ant. è 惡 "ugly") which refers to anything concrete or abstract which is attractive or handsome in a dignified way, and the word often retains its primary culinary sense of "tasty".

  [GENERAL], [GRADED]; [[COMMON]]

  2. Lì 麗 (ant. sù 素 "unaodorned") is often restricted to physical objects, prototypically to clothes, and emphasises their balanced symmetric beauty, occasionally also - by analogy - the well-aligned symmetric beauty of mountains.

  [ELEVATED], [NON-HUMAN], [VISUAL!]

  3. Wén 文 (ant. zhì 質 "merely material") emphasises cultivated external as well as internal elegance as well as traditionalism.

  [ARTIFICIAL], [ELEVATED], [NON-HUMAN], [VISUAL!]

  4. Yǎ 雅 (ant. sú 俗 "vulgar") emphasises primarily external elevated elegance.

  [ACOUSTIC!], [ARTIFICIAL], [ELEVATED+], [NON-HUMAN]

  5. Hǎo 好 "comely, handsome" (ant. chǒu 醜 "ugly") refers indiscriminately to men and women, but the word is sometimes more general and even abstract in application and refers to attractive words or attractive moral qualities.

  [HUMAN!], [NATURAL], [VISUAL]

  6. Xiù 秀 "of vigorous and imposing beauty" focusses on flourishing and flamboyant beauty in analogy with that of flowers.

  [ELEVATED], [NATURAL], [NON-HUMAN], [POETIC], [VISUAL]; [[RARE]]

  7. Huá 華 "of striking and colourful beauty" (ant. sú 俗 "vulgar") focusses on flourishing and flamboyant superficial or only apparent beauty, on the analogy analogy with that of flowers.

  [ARTIFICIAL], [ELEVATED], NON-HUMAN], [SUPERFICIAL], [VISUAL]

  8. Zhuàng 壯 "stately" (ant. ruò 弱 "weak and unsightly") is virile beauty associated with strength and vigour. See STRONG

  [NATURAL], [MARGINAL], [POETIC]; [[RARE]]

  9. Jiā 佳 "of outstanding beauty" (NB: liè 劣 "unremarkable" is the ant. of jiā 佳 "outstanding", and not in the meaning of "outstandingly beautiful") emphasises comparative beauty compared to others in the same group.

  [GRADED], [ELEVATED], [NATURAL], [POETIC]

  10. Dū 都 "urbane and exquisitely beautiful" (ant. bì 鄙 "rustic and inelegant") is a highly poetic word that can only be used in elevated prose.

  [ARCHAIC], [ELEVATED], [POETIC], [VISUAL]; [[RARE]]

  11. Yán 妍 "attractive and exquisite (of humans as well as human products)" (ant. chì 蚩 "unattractive") refers to elaborate beauty. See SEXY.

  [ARCHAIC], [ELEVATED], [HUMAN], [POETIC]; [[RARE]]

  12. Xiū 脩 / 修 "refined moral beauty" refers to moral as well as physical beauty, thus coming close the Greek kalokagathia, but never approaching the latter in importance as a cultural keyword.

  <div>[ELEVATED], [ARTIFICIAL]; [[RARE]]</div><div><br></div><div>吳蓬，東方審美詞彙集萃，上海文藝出版社，2002 lists the following rough definitions of a variety of terms of aesthetic appreciation by the artist and scholar Wu Peng. Many of these terms express conventional appreciative flattery only. This list does provide one not particularly well-known artist's subjective readings of some basic terms of traditional Chinese aesthetic approbation.</div><div>勃：富有生机之突起。<br>苍：浓的，毛的，老练的。<br>沉：沉着不浮，有重量感。<br>冲：调成和淡之意向。<br>饬：整顿。<br>粗：大而不笨者。<br>淳：清，往往易薄，然而淳是清中滋润之厚。<br>醇：与淳略同，这醇是提炼后的滋润之厚。<br>绰：与"约"字合用，即舒而不纵之意。<br>澹：平静而有幽淡之趣。<br>淡：与浓艳相对。<br>宕：放荡不拘。<br>跌：往往与"宕"字合用，即是起伏明显之状。<br>端：方正而不出偏，有稳实感。<br>敦：很实在的，结实的厚。<br>繁：众而密，有生气。<br>方：与平正同义。<br>丰：饱满而充足。<br>风：审美中之"风"指的是一种气韵格调。<br>飞：大幅度的流动。<br>刚：属于阳性的，有正力的，与柔软相对。</div><div>高：俯视一切的、超然得不一般。<br>工：规矩，不潦草。<br>孤：自我独立。<br>古：旧气，更有历史的抗怀千载之迹象。<br>骨：内在的架子。<br>犷：是跟"雄悍"接近，在粗中发展开来。<br>瑰：不单调的美。<br>乖：不和顺。<br>憨：近于拙朴而敦实。<br>酣：厚润四溢。<br>豪：激动向上之貌，有气魄。<br>宏：大而有气度。<br>厚：有沉积的饱和。<br>华：明亮而艳丽。<br>环：长久圆融之境。<br>荒：与"枯简"接近，不修饰。<br>豁：与开朗接近，然比开朗明显。<br>恢：宽广有余。<br>浑：团然一气之象，有朦胧感。<br>简：经过一番整修的减少。<br>娇：美得可爱。<br>警：审美中用此警字，往往指敏锐、颖达。<br></div><div>劲：能察觉的力。<br>精：很到位。<br>隽：精致而具内涵之美。<br>娟：秀而婉丽。<br>崛：高起而突出。<br>俊：人材杰曲之美。<br>峻：山高而陡。在书画中是浓而锋利之用笔。<br>空：有灵气之空白。<br>枯：干而毛，生的萎缩，然亦是力的显露。<br>宽：大度而畅朗。<br>旷：广阔而空灵。<br>辣：是枯毛爽直的老笔触。<br>朗：明亮而豁然。<br>琅：圆而光润。<br>伦：是同类之意，带有文明意念。<br>冷：跟"淡"与"静”接近，与浓烈相对。<br>炼：精到而有功力。<br>淋：与"漓”往往合用，是无拘束的洒落。<br>流：明显的动感。<br>迈：阔而放的超势。<br>莽：宽广而繁密的，朴直奔放的。<br>袤：与"古"字合用，即悠长久远之趣。<br>茂：有生气的繁密。<br>媚：柔美之趣。<br>宓：安而静。<br>明：清晰有亮度。<br>凝：浓重而不流动。<br>懦：毫无火气之柔软。<br>平：一般的，接近于稳。<br>朴：原始状态，形象较准。<br>嫖：与"姚"字合用，即动疾之状，而有气势。<br>奇：不一般。<br>气：生发的，迎面直扑而来的感觉。<br>清：是混的相对。其间透出一股朗气。<br>峭：山之直而险，在书画中是露锋的侧锋用笔，有明显露<br>尖状态。文章中之峭，是意气直逼。<br>遒：婉转有致，内力强劲。<br>虬：与遒类似，但动感较强，弯曲而有力度。<br>意：诚实谨慎。<br>儒：代表文人之书卷气。<br>洒：散落无拘束。<br>赡：富有与丰实。若与"疏”、"逸”组合即成"澹”或"安"之义。</div><div>骚：审美中之骚字，可引伸为风骚至风流感。<br>韶：美丽有光泽。<br>涩：在不爽快的进程中，流露出内力之美。<br>深：不是浮面的。<br>神：精与气合。高端的。<br>生：不成熟，但比成熟有味。<br>肆：任意放纵。<br>松：松是灵活自然，是一切技巧之本要。<br>瘦：与粗笨相对，在审美中的"瘦"，是指细长而精练。<br>疏：一种稀少秀朗之美。<br>肃：有立即静穆下来之势。<br>率：与潦草随便有别，爽快而直接。<br>邃：深远而悠久。<br>阅：通达之意。<br>给：与"宕"合用，是安详舒放之趣。<br>天:很自然，一片天箱之"天"。<br>恬：安静而坦然。<br>挺：直而有生气。<br>婉：柔和而曲折。<br>温：是一种暖调与缓和的综合。</div><div>巍：往往与"峨"合用，是高大厚实之趣。<br>洗：与"炼”合用，即是"精炼"之意，凡物之洁出于洗。<br>犀：与"利"字合用，即坚利。<br>熙：光明，和乐。<br>细：指细而不纤。<br>娴：文静而雅致。<br>闲：一种高雅的自由。<br>萧：疏少有致。<br>潇：散朗而润泽。<br>馨：很醇厚的香气。<br>篁："篁古”是悠远辽阔之意。<br>雄：强大，有力度，有霸气。<br>秀：灵巧的，有生气的，美好的显露。<br>虚：表象空，但并非真空。<br>雅：文气而不俗。<br>妍：鲜美而柔性。<br>严：认真，不马虎。<br>淹：一种浸沉与精深明达之境。<br>野：超脱、不规范。<br>冶：经过一番精致修饰。<br>逸：悠闲的起伏。</div><div>意：精神倾向。<br>莹：透明而幽亮。<br>雍：往往与“容"字合用，有和顺之貌。<br>幽：静而深。<br>腴：肥润而饱和。<br>郁：厚积而有生气。<br>纤：与"迥"字合用，即弯环回绕之趣。<br>遹：与"瑰"字合用，即纤迥美丽之趣。<br>渊：往往与"懿"合用，是深润而悠美之趣。<br>圆：接近于饱满润滑。<br>蕴：与"藉"合用，即内涵丰富。<br>韵：一种余味不尽之趣。<br>恣：放纵的，无拘束的。<br>滋：湿润感。<br>自：出于本性的流露。<br>质：本体的，实在的。<br>纵：放逸无拘之状。<br>拙：接近朴，形不准。<br>庄：端正之貌。<br>卓：与“荤"合用，是突出明显之状。<br></div><div><br></div><br>

• INCREASE
  

  1. The most current and most general word for increase, both abstract and concrete is yì 益 (ant. sǔn 損 "decrease"). See MORE which overlaps considerably with this group.

  2. Zī 滋 is an archaic but not uncommon word referring to an overall natural increase or growth in quantity of something, but the most current use of the word is adverbial in the sense "increasing naturally".

  3. Zé1ng 增 (ant. shǎo 少 "beocme less") typically refers to concrete or material increase of something.

  4. Jiā 加 (ant. jiǎn 減 "decrease by taking away") typically focusses on the action of adding something which brings about the increase.

• YOUNG
  

  1. The current general "absolute" word for tender youth is yòu 幼 (ant. zhǎng 長 "grown up"), and this word refers to young age of animals, as well as humans.

  2. Zhì 稚 (ant. zhǎng 長 "grown up") refers "absolutely" to young age in humans, but the word came to refer to young age in animals as well at later stages from Song times onwards.

  3. Shào 少 (ant. zhǎng 長 "grown up") is a comparative term and refers specifically to relatively young age in humans; note that a person remains shào 少 "junior" (ant. zhǎng 長 "senior") in respect to elders until he is very old indeed.

• MORE
  

  1. The most current and general word expressing the idea of something becoming more rather than less is yì 益 (ant. sǔn 損 "less and less").

  2. Mí 彌 focusses a difference in degree or number rather than on a process of increase.

  3. Yù 愈 (NB: shǎo 少 does not function as an antonym "less and less".) typically refers to a continuous or continuing dynamic increase or process.

  4. Gèng 更 and the rarer words fù 復 and yòu 又 "even more" indicate that the increase is from a level that is already high.

  5. Jiā 加 typically refers to an increase not in the intensity of something, but in the quantity or number.

  6. Yóu 尤 "particularly" singles out an item as instantiating something with particular intensity, more than most other comparable things.

  NB: 愈 may precede non-comparative verbs. Thus yù qǐ 愈起 "tend even more to occur" GUAN 47 could not have yì qǐ 益起. HF 19 has yù wáng 愈亡 "will tend ever more to fail". 愈至 "tend even more to arrive".

• FEW
  

  1. The current general word referring to the relatively small number or the small amount of something is shǎo 少 (ant. duō 多 "many, much").

  2. Guǎ 寡 (ant. zhòng 眾 "numerous" and occasionally also duō 多 "large in quantity") typically refers specifically humans not being numerous as opposed to larger groups of humans, but the word comes to refer also to any quantity being relatively large ( 五穀多寡 "the relative abundance of grain") and I have not found a systematic difference in nuance with shǎo 少 when the word is so used, except for the generally subjective intuition that guǎ 寡 being the dominant word in early times, perhaps retained a somewhat more dignified stylistic value throughout.

  3. Fá 乏 and kuì 匱 (ant. zú 足 "enough") refer specifically to the shortage of something one definitely needs more of.

  4. Xī 希 / 稀 and the more archaic xiǎn 鮮 refers to sparsity of distribution.

  5. Jiǎn 減 (ant. zēng 增 "increase") refers specifically to the reduction of the amount of the number of something. See also DIMINISH.

• HUMBLE
  

  1. The current general word for objective low social status without any connotation concerning moral worth is bēi 卑 (ant. zūn 尊 "objectively venerable by social standards").

  2. Jiàn 賤 (ant. 貴 "objectively of high standard, but also personally and subjectively judged to deserve this high status") typically adds to the notion of objectively judged low status that of subjectively appreciated moral decrepitude.

  3. Xiǎo 小 and shào 少 (all ant. zhǎng 長 "senior") refers to relatively junior status in the bureaucratic hierarchy.

  4. Xià 下 refers to low status in absolute terms.

  5. Wēi 微 refers to a person being of low status so as to be of no substantial political or social importance. See UNIMPORTANT

  NB: One's rank wèi 位 may be said to be zūn 尊 "elevated" or bēi 卑 "lowly", but one's status as such could never be jiàn 賤.

• NOT
  

  1. The general all-purpose pre-verbal negation is 不 which generally has the whole predicate it precedes as its scope. 不 can be inchoative "not get to begin", continuative "not continuously", discontinuative "stop doing" or resultative "not get to complete doing". By the rhetorical device of litotes 不 can create antonymic opposites as in 不少 “quite a lot".

  2. Fēi 非 negates categorising subsumptive judgments when it precedes predicative nominals; when preceding verbs 非 "it is not as if" negates not the verbal verbal proposition but metalinguistically the making of a statement that can usefully be paraphrased as "the claim is not that".

  3. Wú 無 "in no way; in no way i.e. regarding no object", when used as a straight negation (contrast SHOULD NOT) is descriptively generalising and not straightforwardly narrative or descriptive.

  4. Fú 弗 "would not; could not" prototypically refers to a refusal or inability to do something which in principle one might intend to do.

  5. Wèi 未 "not yet; not quite" refers to either temporal or logical incompleteness in verbal predication.

  6. Fǒu 否 "It is not the case" is a negative pro-form, and there remains a suspicion that the graph 不 is to be read as fǒu 否 when it is used as a pro-form.

  7. Mò 莫 "none" is protoypically resumptive of an explicit or implicit subject.

  8. Wú 毋 "don't" and wù 勿 don't the object" when not used injunctively, are negations restricted to the position after such causative verbs as 使.

• ADMIRE
  

  [ACTIVIY/STATE]

  [AESTHETIC/MORAL]

  [ASCENDING/HORIZONTAL/DESCENDING]

  [EMOTIONAL/RATIONAL]

  [HIGH-DEGREE/LOW-DEGREE]

  [MENTAL/OVERT]

  [OBJ=HU/OBJ=NONHU]

  [OBJECTIVE/SUBJECTIVE]

  [OVERT/COVERT]

  [PRIVATE/PUBLIC]

  1. The standard general word for admiration is mù 慕 (ant. bǐ 鄙 "hold in low esteem"), and this word often connotes emulation.

  [ASCENDING], [EMOTIONAL], [OBJ=HU], [STATE], [SUBJECTIVE]

  2. Wàng 望 refers to an intense distant admiration of some heroic or in any way especially elevated figure.

  [ACTIVITY], [ASCENDING], [HIGH-DEGREE], [OBJ=HU], [RATIONAL], [SUBJECTIVE]

  3. Yǎng 仰 (ant.* yì 易 "have no special respect for") refers to a distant veneration of some heroic or in any way especially elevated figure.

  [ACTIVITY], [ASCENDING], [HIGH-DEGREE], [OBJ=HU], [RATIONAL], [SUBJECTIVE]

  4. Shàng 尚 (ant. qīng 輕 "have no special respect for") refers to giving high practical priority to something or someone out of a sense of admiration or appreciation.

  [ACTIVITY], [ASCENDING], [OBJ=HU], [OVERT] [PUBLIC]

  5. Shàng 上 (ant. xià 下 "despise, have no special respect for") refer to giving high practical priority to something out of a sense of admiration or appreciation.

  [ASCENDING], [OBJ=NON-HU], [OBJECTIVE], [OVERT], [PUBLIC]

  6. Yòu 右 (ant. qīng 輕 "have no special respect for") refer to giving high practical priority to something or someone out of a sense of admiration or appreciation.

  [ACTIVITY], [ASCENDING], [OVERT], [PUBLIC]

  7. Měi 美 (ant. è 惡 "find despicable an dislikable") refers to an intense expressly subjective aesthetic or moral appreciation for something as admirable.

  [COVERT], [STATE], [SUBJECTIVE]

  8. Duō 多 (ant. shǎo 少 "feel no respect for") refers to an objective assessment of something as worthy of admiration.

  [COVERT], [OBJECTIVE], [RATIONAL], [STATE]

  9. Xiàn 羨 refers to rather personal and private admiration for something, and this admiration is sometimes mixed with envy.

  [COVERT], [EMOTIONAL], [STATE], [SUBJECTIVE]

• RARE
  

  1. The current general word for seldom is hǎn 罕 (ant. lu# 屢 "fairly often), which tends to refer to a very low fequency of occurrence of something.

  2. Xiǎn 鮮 (ant. cháng 常 "frequently, in the natural course of events") refer to a dramatic degree of scarcity.

  3. Xī 希 / 稀 (ant. shuò 數 "repeatedly, many times, several times") refers to relative scarcity or sparseness both in time and in space.

  4. Shǎo 少 (ant. duō 多 "often") is a colourless word frequently used to indicate non-specifically that something is not often seen.

• OLD
  

  1. The general term for old age of living creatures is lǎo 老 "of old age" (ant. shào 少 "still youthful" and yòu 幼 "young"), whereas the general term for things not new is jiù 舊 (ant. xīn 新 "new").

  2. Wǎng 往 (ant. lái 來 "future") refers to times past.

  3. Gù 故 (ant. xīn 新 ) refers to what is a matter of the past which typically has an impact on, or traces in, the present.

  4. Chén 陳 (ant. xīn 新 ) refers to what is stale and no longer new and fresh.

• SURPLUS
  

  1. The current general word for left-overs or surplus is yú 餘 (ant. quē 缺 "in insufficient supply").

  2. Duō 多 (ant. shǎo 少 "in poor supply") emphasises sheer quantity.

  3. Bǔ 補 (ant. quē 闕 "causing shortage") focusses on something being extra and fulfilling a supplementary function.

  4. Xiàn 羨 is occasionally used to refer to agricultural or other surplus.

Word relations
• Ant: (DESPISE)多/ADMIRE Duō 多 (ant. shǎo 少 "feel no respect for") refers to an objective assessment of something as worthy of admiration. [COVERT], [OBJECTIVE], [RATIONAL], [STATE] 1 Attribution
• Ant: (FEW)多/MANY The dominant word referring to numerousness and a large quantity of a stuff is duō 多 (ant. shǎo 少). 3 Attributions
• Ant: (YOUNG)長/GROW The current general term for growth is zhǎng 長. 1 Attribution
• Ant: (YOUNG)長/SENIOR2 Attributions
• Ant: (FEW)眾/MANY Zhòng 眾 (ant. guǎ 寡 "few") and zhū 諸 refer to a large number of items of a certain kind. 1 Attribution
• Ant: (YOUNG)老/OLD The general term for old age of living creatures is lǎo 老 "of old age" (ant. shào 少 "still youthful" and yòu 幼 "young"), whereas the general term for things not new is jiù 舊 (ant. xīn 新 "new"). 6 Attributions
• Ant: (YOUNG)長/SENIOR
• Contrast: (FEW)泊/FEW
• Contrast: (LITTLE)薄/TENUOUS Báo 薄 (ant. hòu 厚 "substantial") refers to anything thin or slight.
• Assoc: (YOUNG)幼/YOUNG The current general "absolute" word for tender youth is yòu 幼 (ant. zhǎng 長 "grown up"), and this word refers to young age of animals, as well as humans. 1 Attribution
• Synon: (FEW)寡/FEW Guǎ 寡 (ant. zhòng 眾 "numerous" and occasionally also duō 多 "large in quantity") typically refers specifically humans not being numerous as opposed to larger groups of humans, but the word comes to refer also to any quantity being relatively large (五穀多寡 "the relative abundance of grain") and I have not found a systematic difference in nuance with shǎo 少 when the word is so used, except for the generally subjective intuition that guǎ 寡 being the dominant word in early times, perhaps retained a somewhat more dignified stylistic value throughout. 1 Attribution
• Synon: (REDUCE)貶/REDUCE
• Oppos: (YOUNG)長/ADULT1 Attribution
• Oppos: (YOUNG)壯/ADULT The current word for an adult is zhuàng 壯. [GENERAL], [GENERAL-USE] 1 Attribution