敗 meaning and stroke order
Failure; to decline, to fail, to suffer defeat
How to write 敗, stroke by stroke
11 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
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- 11
Meaning of 敗
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to defeat
- to damage
- to lose (to an opponent)
- to fail
- to wither
How 敗 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Rap.
攵 gives the meaning and 貝 hints at the sound.
Radical: 攵 (to rap), shared by 36 characters on this site.
How to remember 敗
敗 is built from 貝 (shell, old money) and 攵 (a hand striking, the hint is "rap"). Picture a hand rapping a precious shell until it breaks, and you have ruin and defeat.
敗 means to lose, to be defeated, or to spoil, and it usually appears in compounds like 失敗 (shībài, to fail) and 打敗 (dǎbài, to defeat). Example: 他們打敗了對手。(Tāmen dǎbài le duìshǒu.) They defeated their opponent.
Common mistake: Learners mix up 打敗 and 失敗: 打敗 takes an object and means you beat someone, while 失敗 means you yourself failed. Also watch the right side: it is 攵, not 欠 as in 歡.
Common words with 敗
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 失敗 | shībài | to be defeated; to lose | HSK 4 |
| 打敗 | dǎbài | to defeat; to overpower | HSK 4 |
| 腐敗 | fǔbài | corruption; to corrupt | HSK 7-9 |
| 擊敗 | jībài | to defeat; to beat | |
| 失敗者 | shībàizhě | loser | |
| 敗類 | bàilèi | scum of a community; degenerate | |
| 戰敗 | zhànbài | to lose a war | |
| 挫敗 | cuòbài | to thwart; to foil (sb's plans); a setback; a failure; a defeat | |
| 成敗 | chéngbài | success or failure | |
| 慘敗 | cǎnbài | to suffer a crushing defeat | |
| 敗壞 | bàihuài | to ruin; to corrupt | |
| 一敗塗地 | yībàitúdì | lit. defeated, the ground blanketed with bodies (idiom); fig. to suffer a crushing defeat | |
| 敗露 | bàilù | (of a plot etc) to fall through and stand exposed | |
| 衰敗 | shuāibài | to decline; to wane |
Questions about 敗
How many strokes are in 敗?
敗 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 敗 mean?
敗 (bài) means failure; to decline, to fail, to suffer defeat. A common word with it is 失败 (shībài), meaning "to be defeated; to lose".
How do you pronounce 敗?
敗 is pronounced bài, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 敗?
The radical of 敗 is 攵, which carries the idea of "to rap". Dictionaries list 敗 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 敗?
敗 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 败, used in mainland China and Singapore.
How do you say "A beat B" and "A lost to B" with 敗?
Use 打敗 or 擊敗 with an object for winning: 甲打敗了乙 (A beat B). For losing, put the opponent after 敗給: 甲敗給了乙 (A lost to B).
Why does 腐敗 mean corruption?
敗 also means to spoil or decay, and 腐 means rotten. Together they describe something rotting, which extends to officials or systems that are morally rotten, so 腐敗 means both food going bad and political corruption.