abbr. for 非洲[Fei1 zhou1], Africa
to not be; not / wrong; incorrect / non-; un-; in-; de- / to reproach; to blame / (coll.) to insist on; simply must

= + 丿 + : Mnemonic symbol: a negative film (photography).

Frankenstein's monster (f) made an effort to photograph the Eiffel Tower (ei1), but now his negative (非) is a big mess. In front of the tower he set up a camera on a Cartesian coordinate system (三) as a tripod, and he attached a banana (丿) and a dinosaur bone (丨) to the camera so that he can finely tune the angles. All was for naught as he now holds the messed up negative in his hands.

非 character breakdown

three / 3

= + : Mnemonic symbol: a Cartesian coordinate system with three (三) axes.

Socrates (s-) is performing in front of the anthill (-an1). He created an electrical flute by attaching a large capacitor (二) to the flute (一), so that he can get the attention of all the ants. Moreover, he's balancing on a Cartesian coordinate system (三). Unfortunately, only three (三) ants stop to watch the performance.
radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 2)

Mnemonic symbol: a dinosaur bone. Gitta Giraffe (gu-) found a gorgeous dinosaur bone (丨) in the encampment's living room ((e)n3).
vertical stroke (in Chinese characters), referred to as 豎筆|竖笔[shu4 bi3]

Mnemonic symbol: a dinosaur bone. Sheldon Shrimp (shu) found a gorgeous dinosaur bone (丨) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4) and is cracking it open to eat its bone marrow.
radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 4) / see 撇[pie3]

Pocahontas (pi-) is eating a banana (丿) in the elevator's living room (-e3).

Characters with 非 as component

lifetime / generation / group of people / class / classifier for generations / (literary) classifier for people

= + : Beelzebub (b) successfully affected the lives of whole generations (辈) by alluring them with expensive cabriolets (车). In the Eiffel Tower's bathroom (ei4) he is sitting in one of his cabriolets and looking through a lifetime of negatives (非), each taken when he spoiled another victim.
dark red / purple silk
luxuriant (plant growth) / rich with fragrance / phenanthrene C14H10

= + : In front of the Eiffel Tower (ei1) Frankenstein's Monster (f) succeeded to process a bunch of negatives (非) and obtained pure phenanthrene (菲). It is very rich in fragrance (菲) and smells like sheets of artificial lawn (艹).
poor / humble / unworthy / radish (old)

= + : Frankenstein's Monster (f) processed a bunch of negatives (非) to obtain phenanthrene (菲) in the Eiffel Tower (ei3) but failed. His solution is very impure. Instead of artificial lawn (艹) it smells like radish (菲), and so Frankenstein's Monster knows his solution is unworthy (菲).
abbr. for the Philippines 菲律賓|菲律宾[Fei1 lü4 bin1]

= + : In front of the Eiffel Tower (ei1) Frankenstein's Monster (f) succeeded to process a bunch of negatives (非) and obtained pure phenanthrene (菲). It is very rich in fragrance (菲) and smells like sheets of artificial lawn (艹).
green jade / kingfisher
surname Fei
phonetic fei or fi / elegant / phi (Greek letter Φ, φ)
calf of leg / decay / protect
surname Pei
(of a garment) long and flowing
variant of 裴[pei2]
to waste (money)

Words with 非

South Africa
lit. not to know whether to laugh or cry (idiom) / between laughter and tears
three feet of ice does not form in a single day (idiom); Rome wasn't built in a day
duplicity / hypocrisy (idiom)
a couple in which one of the spouses is not a Hong Kong citizen
the old man lost his mare, but it all turned out for the best (idiom); fig. a blessing in disguise / it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good / also written 塞翁失馬焉知非福|塞翁失马焉知非福
the old man lost his mare, but it all turned out for the best (idiom); fig. a blessing in disguise / it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good
not to reciprocate is against etiquette (classical) / to respond in kind
London University School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)

Sentences with 非

zhè
táo
fe̅i
tóng
xiǎo
kě
 
 
jiǔ
qia̅n
nián
 
 
ka̅i
hua̅