难看
nán kàn · HSK 2
ugly
难看 = difficult + to look at = ugly
难 (nán) means difficult or hard; 看 (kàn) means to look or watch. Together they literally mean hard-to-look-at, i.e. ugly or unsightly. The same pattern gives 好看 (hǎo kàn) = good + look = good-looking.
难 — 又 (right hand) + 隹 (short-tailed bird)
Originally written with 堇 (clay) plus 隹 (bird), 難 depicted a rare bird and was borrowed to mean 'difficult.' The modern simplified form replaces the left side with 又 (hand). The phonetic role of the original left component gave the reading nán.
看 — hand 手 over eye 目
看 is an associative compound showing a hand (手, simplified to 龹) shading an eye (目), depicting someone shielding their eyes to look into the distance. From this concrete gesture it broadened to mean 'to look,' 'to watch,' and later 'to read' or 'to consider.'