没劲
méi jìn · HSK 7
feeling listless
🪫 没 = not have + 劲 = strength/energy, so 没劲 = running on empty
没 means lacking and 劲 means physical force or energy. Stick them together and you get the drained, listless feeling of having no gas left in the tank.
没 — water 氵 + 殳 (hand with weapon)
Originally depicted something sinking or being submerged in water, combining the water radical 氵 with 殳, suggesting a hand reaching into a whirlpool. The core sense was 'to sink, drown, disappear under water.' From there it extended to 'to vanish, not have,' giving the modern negative meaning 'not, have not.'