失敗

简 失败 · 繁 失敗
Mandarin · pinyin shī bài

Meanings

  1. to be defeated
  2. to lose
  3. to fail (e.g. experiments)
  4. failure
  5. defeat
  6. Classifier: 次 cì
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Characters in this entry

失
shī · lose; make mistake, neglect
敗
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败
bài · be defeated, decline, fail
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–4 · shi1 bai4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

失敗 · find source passages ↗ · 失败 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sat1 baai6

Cantonese word readings for 失敗. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb

  1. (intransitive) to be defeated
  2. (intransitive) to fail; to come to nothing; to fall through

noun

  1. failure; defeat

adj

  1. failed; unsuccessful
  2. (attributive) failed (of a state)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack