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腐败 (fǔ bài) — (adjective, verb) corrupt; to corrupt; corruption (political or social); (adjective, verb) rotten; to rot (organic matter)

Definition

Covers both senses: political/social 'corrupt, corruption' and organic matter 'rotten, to rot'. 贪污 is specifically officials embezzling funds; 腐烂 and 腐朽 are more often literal decay.

(adjective, verb) corruptto corruptcorruption (political or social)(adjective, verb) rottento rot (organic matter)

Examples

  • 腐败。
    Wǒ men yào yán chéng fǔ bài de guān yuán.
    We must severely punish corrupt officials.
  • 腐败，。
    Zhè xiē ròu yǐ jīng fǔ bài le, bù néng chī le.
    This meat has already rotted and can't be eaten.
  • 腐败。
    fǔ bài De shè huì zhì dù ràng bǎi xìng shī wàng.
    A corrupt social system disappoints the people.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

腐fǔrot
败bàidecay

'腐' (rot) and '败' (decay) combine to mean rottenness or corruption.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
肉肉ròuflesh; body
Sound part声符shēngfú
府
府fǔ腐fǔ
Same sound today

腐 is built from 肉, meaning flesh or body, and 府, pronounced fǔ, which gives the sound.

Open 腐 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 敗; 败 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攵Written in full as攴pūstrike
Sound part声符shēngfú
貝
貝bèi敗bài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 敗 has 貝 as the sound component and 攴 (written 攵) meaning strike. The simplified 败 is a later abbreviation, so its parts are not the original components.

Open 败 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Government & Politics

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