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耗费 (hào fèi) — to consume, to expend (resources in significant amounts)

Definition

耗费 highlights large quantities of time, money, or effort being used up, with a neutral or even productive tone. Unlike 浪费 (pure waste) or 挥霍 (reckless squandering), it does not necessarily judge the spending as negative.

verb
to consumeto expend (resources in significant amounts)

Examples

  • 耗费。
    Zhè ge gōng chéng hào fèi le dà liàng zī jīn.
    This project consumed a large amount of funds.
  • 耗费，。
    Nǐ zhè yàng zuò huì hào fèi hěn duō jīng lì, bù rú huàn gè fāng fǎ.
    Doing this will expend a lot of energy — it's better to try another approach.
  • 耗费。
    Bú yào zài bú zhòng yào de shì qing shàng hào fèi tài duō shí jiān.
    Don't spend too much time on unimportant things.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

耗hàoconsume
费fèispend

耗 “consume” and 费 “spend” are parallel, together expressing use of resources.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 耗 →

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 費; 费 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
弗
弗fú費fèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 費 has 貝, a cowry shell, and 弗, which gives a sound; the simplified 费 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 费 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract Concepts

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