浅ましい

あさましい · asamashii · JLPT N1 · noun

despicable

浅 — water radical 氵 + 戔 (small/thin)
浅 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The water radical 氵 gives the meaning (relating to water), while 戔 (originally depicting small or slight things) supplies the sound and reinforces the sense of 'little'. Together they mean 'shallow water', later extended to 'shallow' or 'superficial' in general.

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