懂中文 Dong Chinese

狽

bèi

a legendary animal with short forelegs which rode a wolf

Phonosemantic compound. 犭 represents the meaning and 貝 represents the sound.

Components
犭 meaning component

犭  Meaning component

quǎn

  

dog

犭 is a component form of 犬.

貝 sound component

貝  Sound component

bèi

  

sea shell

Evolution

狽 Oracle script (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)
狽 Bronze script Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Bronze script

Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
狽 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

狈 (狽) 

bèi

a legendary animal with short forelegs which rode a wolf; a legendary wolf; distressed; wretched

Most common words with 狽
Freq.
Word
Meaning

狼狈

in a difficult situation

狼狈为奸

villains collude together (idiom); to work hand in glove with sb (to nefarious ends)

狈

distressed

狼狈不堪

battered and exhausted