赖
lài · HSK 6
to renege
🪝 Sounds like LIE — clings to others and reneges on promises
Lài and English LIE share the same vowel. A 赖 person hangs on like a hook, depends on others, and goes back on their word — all shades of bad faith.
赖 — 束 bundle + 负 carry/owe (originally 剌)
Originally a phono-semantic compound suggesting profit or gain from a bundle of goods, with 束 hinting at sound and the right side conveying meaning. Over time it shifted to mean 'rely on' and 'depend on,' then extended to 'deny' or 'repudiate' (as in shirking a debt one relies on others to forget).