HSK 5 · Verbs

吃亏 chīkuī “to lose out” in Chinese

Traditional 吃虧

What 吃亏 means

  1. to lose out
  2. to suffer a loss
  3. to be at a disadvantage
  4. to suffer losses
  5. to come to grief
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to get the worst of it

How to say 吃亏

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale吃chī1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale亏kuī1st tone, high and level

吃亏 in a sentence

  1. 他太老实了，常常吃亏。

    Tā tài lǎoshi le, chángcháng chīkuī.

    He’s too honest, so he often loses out.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 做生意不能怕吃亏。

    Zuò shēngyi bùnéng pà chīkuī.

    In business, you can’t be afraid of taking a loss.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 吃亏 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 吃 (chī) with each of its parts in a different colour
吃chīto eat; to consume
  • 口mouth · kǒuMeaning part
  • 乞to beg · qǐSound part

口 hints at the meaning (mouth); 乞 (qǐ) hints at the sound. Compare it with chī.

The character 亏 (kuī) drawn as one shape
亏kuīto lose; to have a deficit

亏 is a single shape of 3 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

How to write 吃亏

吃 6 strokes · 亏 3 strokes

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

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

Words related to 吃亏

Words with 吃

吃chī · to eat好吃hǎochī · delicious小吃xiǎochī · snack吃惊chījīng · to be startled吃苦chīkǔ · to endure hardship吃力chīlì · strenuous

Words with 亏

多亏duōkuī · thanks to幸亏xìngkuī · fortunately亏待kuīdài · to treat unfairly亏损kuīsǔn · loss (financial)

More words: Common Verbs

成立chénglì · to establish成长chéngzhǎng · to grow up承担chéngdān · to take on (responsibility)承受chéngshòu · to bear持续chíxù · to continue充满chōngmǎn · to be full of冲chōng · to rush出示chūshì · to show

FAQs

吃亏 (chīkuī) means “to lose out” or “to suffer a loss”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it chīkuī: chī with a 1st tone, then kuī with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 吃亏 is written 吃虧. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type chikui with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 吃亏 from the suggestions. Typing chikui into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
吃亏 is an HSK 5 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.