败 meaning and stroke order
To defeat; to damage; to lose (to an opponent)
How to write 败, stroke by stroke
8 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
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Meaning of 败
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to defeat
- to damage
- to lose (to an opponent)
- to fail
- to wither
How 败 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Rap.
攵 gives the meaning and 贝 hints at the sound.
Radical: 贝 (sea shell), shared by 63 characters on this site.
How to remember 败
败 combines 贝 (bèi, shell, an old symbol of money) with 攵, a hand holding a stick to rap or strike. Picture someone smashing a valuable shell with a stick: the treasure is ruined, and that is defeat.
败 rarely stands alone in everyday speech. It usually appears in words like 失败 (shībài, to fail), 打败 (dǎbài, to defeat) and 腐败 (fǔbài, corruption). Example: 失败是成功之母。(Shībài shì chénggōng zhī mǔ.) Failure is the mother of success.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 败 (bài) with 贩 (fàn, to peddle), which also has 贝 on the left. Remember that 败 has the striking hand 攵 on the right. Also keep the fourth tone, and do not confuse it with 拜 (bài, to pay respects), which sounds the same.
Common words with 败
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 失败 | shībài | to be defeated; to lose | HSK 4 |
| 打败 | dǎbài | to defeat; to overpower | HSK 4 |
| 腐败 | fǔbài | corruption; to corrupt | HSK 7-9 |
| 击败 | jībài | to defeat; to beat | |
| 失败者 | shībàizhě | loser | |
| 败类 | bàilèi | scum of a community; degenerate | |
| 战败 | zhànbài | to lose a war | |
| 挫败 | cuòbài | to thwart; to foil (sb's plans); a setback; a failure; a defeat | |
| 成败 | chéngbài | success or failure | |
| 惨败 | cǎnbài | to suffer a crushing defeat | |
| 败坏 | bàihuài | to ruin; to corrupt | |
| 一败涂地 | yībàitúdì | lit. defeated, the ground blanketed with bodies (idiom); fig. to suffer a crushing defeat | |
| 败露 | bàilù | (of a plot etc) to fall through and stand exposed | |
| 衰败 | shuāibài | to decline; to wane |
败 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 败
How many strokes are in 败?
败 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 败 mean?
败 (bài) means to defeat; to damage; to lose (to an opponent). A common word with it is 失败 (shībài), meaning "to be defeated; to lose".
How do you pronounce 败?
败 is pronounced bài, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 败?
The radical of 败 is 贝, which carries the idea of "sea shell". Dictionaries list 败 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 败?
The traditional form of 败 is 敗. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 败 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 败 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 败 is part of the HSK 4 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
What is the difference between 打败 and 失败?
打败 (dǎbài) means to defeat someone, so it takes an object, as in 我们打败了他们 (we beat them). 失败 (shībài) means to fail or lose yourself and usually has no object, as in 计划失败了 (the plan failed).
Can 败 mean that plants wither?
Yes. 败 can describe flowers or leaves fading, as in 花败了 (huā bài le, the flowers have withered). The idea of ruin also appears in 腐败 (fǔbài), which literally means rotten and is now commonly used for corruption.