败 (bài) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order
Pronunciation & meaning
Pronounced .
- failure
- to decline
- to fail
- to suffer defeat
Stroke Order & Practice
Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.
Decomposition
败 breaks down into 2 components arranged as Left + Right. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.
Radical
The radical of 败 is 贝 — meaning sea shell. Radicals are the indexing components used in Chinese dictionaries; they often hint at a character's broad meaning category.
Other HSK 4 characters that share this radical: 资费负购贺货赢责账赚.
How the character is built
败 is a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component 攵 (rap) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component 贝 originally indicated the sound.
HSK 4 Words Containing 败
Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句
败 appears in 20 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:
Tasks Featuring 败 / 相关任务
Words containing 败 appear in these official HSK 4 task scenarios — study the character in context:
FAQ
What does 败 mean in Chinese?
败 (bài) means failure; to decline, to fail, to suffer defeat. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).
How many strokes does 败 have?
败 is written in 8 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 败?
The radical of 败 is 贝 (sea shell). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 资, 费, 负, 购, 贺.
What is the pinyin for 败?
败 is pronounced bài.
What HSK 4 words use 败?
In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 败 appears in 2 words, including 打败 (dǎbài), 失败 (shībài). See the full list above.