Meaning of 败
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to defeat
- to damage
- to lose (to an opponent)
- to fail
- to wither
How to use 败
败 is most often used inside compounds like 失败 (shībài, to fail) and 打败 (dǎbài, to defeat). On its own it appears in sports and competition language, often in the pattern A 败给 B, meaning A lost to B. Example: 我们队败给了他们。(Wǒmen duì bài gěi le tāmen.) Our team lost to them.
败 is made of 贝 (bèi, shell, an old symbol of money and valuables) on the left and 攵 (a hand holding a stick) on the right. Picture someone smashing a precious shell with a stick: the treasure is ruined, and that is defeat.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 败 (bài) with 贩 (fàn, to peddle), which also has 贝 on the left but 反 on the right. Also watch the direction: 打败他 means you defeated him, while 败给他 means you lost to him.
败 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
败 bài · to defeat · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 败.
| 失败 | shībài | to be defeated; to lose |
| 打败 | dǎbài | to defeat; to overpower |
| 腐败 | fǔbài | corruption; to corrupt |
| 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 |
Questions about 败
What does 败 mean?
败 (bài) means "to defeat; to damage" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 败?
败 is made of 1 character: 败 (8 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 败 an HSK word?
Yes. 败 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 败 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 败 is written 敗.
What is the difference between 败 and 输 (shū)?
Both can mean to lose, but 输 is more common in everyday speech, such as losing a game or a bet. 败 sounds more formal or written and is used in news, history and compounds like 失败 and 击败.
Does 败 always mean losing to someone?
No. It can also describe things going bad or decaying, as in 腐败 (fǔbài, corruption, to rot) or flowers withering. The core idea is something being ruined or failing.