糟
zāo · HSK 5
dreg
🍶 糟 = 米 rice + 曹 vat: leftover mash from brewing, hence spoiled
Originally the dregs left after fermenting rice wine — the wet pulp at the bottom of the vat. From that 'soggy leftover mush' came the senses muddle, ruined, what a mess. Common in 糟糕 zāogāo, oh no.
糟 — rice radical 米 + 曹 (cáo, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The rice radical 米 signals the meaning—grain dregs left over from making wine—while 曹 supplies the sound (cáo→zāo). From 'wine lees' the meaning extended to 'rotten, spoiled,' and figuratively to 'a mess' or 'terrible,' as in 糟糕.