HSK 6 · Ideas

弊端 bìduān “abuse” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 弊端 means

  1. abuse
  2. malpractice
  3. drawback
  4. systemic problem (sometimes refers specifically to corrupt practices)

How to say 弊端

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale弊bì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale端duān1st tone, high and level

弊端 in a sentence

  1. 长时间玩手机的弊端很多。

    Cháng shíjiān wán shǒujī de bìduān hěn duō.

    There are many downsides to spending hours on your phone.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 这种做法的弊端已经很明显了。

    Zhè zhǒng zuòfǎ de bìduān yǐjīng hěn míngxiǎn le.

    The drawbacks of this approach are already obvious.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 弊端 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 弊 (bì) with each of its parts in a different colour
弊bìdetriment
  • 敝to break · bì
  • 廾two hands · gǒng
The character 端 (duān) with each of its parts in a different colour
端duāntip; end; extremity
  • 立stand · lìMeaning part
  • 耑specialisedSound part

立 hints at the meaning (stand); 耑 () hints at the sound. Compare it with duān.

How to write 弊端

弊 14 strokes · 端 14 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

弊端 (bìduān) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 弊端 (bìduān). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 弊端

Words with 弊

作弊zuòbì · to cheat (in an exam)弊病bìbìng · drawback

Words with 端

端duān · to carry (level with both hands)端正duānzhèng · upright极端jíduān · extreme争端zhēngduān · dispute尖端jiānduān · cutting-edge端午节Duānwǔjié · Dragon Boat Festival

More words: Ideas & Concepts

变故biàngù · misfortune变迁biànqiān · changes辩证biànzhèng · dialectical弊病bìbìng · drawback比方bǐfang · example比喻bǐyù · metaphor比重bǐzhòng · proportion步伐bùfá · pace

FAQs

弊端 (bìduān) means “abuse” or “malpractice”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it bìduān: bì with a 4th tone, then duān with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 弊端 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type biduan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 弊端 from the suggestions. Typing biduan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
弊端 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.