失败
HSK 4 (exam 2025)HSK 4 (2021)Old HSK 4
失败 (shībài) · to fail
失败 (shībài) means “to fail; failure; to lose”. It is written with 2 characters: 失 (to lose) + 败 (to lose). It is an HSK 4 word in the current exam syllabus (2025).
How 失败 is built
The characters
失 shī · to lose
What 失 is made of
- 丿 — falling stroke
- 夫fū — man
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 大dà — big
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 人rén — person
Origin hint: Something 丿 falling from a hand 夫 (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
败 bài · to lose
What 败 is made of
- 贝bèi — sea shell
- 冂 — frame
- 丨 — vertical stroke
- 人rén — person
- 冂 — frame
- 攵pū — to rap
- 乂yì — crossed strokes
- 丿 — falling stroke
- 乂yì — crossed strokes
Origin hint: 攵 gives the meaning, 贝 gives the sound. (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
Example sentences
失败了也没关系。Shībài le yě méi guānxi.It's okay to fail.
这次比赛我们失败了。Zhè cì bǐsài wǒmen shībài le.We lost this match.
Questions about 失败
What does 失败 mean?
失败 (shībài) means “to fail; failure; to lose”.
How do you pronounce 失败?
失败 is pronounced shībài.
Which HSK level is 失败?
失败 is in HSK 4 (exam 2025) and HSK 4 (2021) and Old HSK 4.
Related words
- 失去shīqùto lose
- 消失xiāoshīto disappear
- 失望shīwàngdisappointed
- 失业shīyèto lose one's job
- 失眠shīmiáninsomnia
- 损失sǔnshīloss
- 得不偿失débùchángshīthe gains don't make up for the losses
- 过失guòshīfault
- 丧失sàngshīto lose
- 失事shīshìto crash
Learn 失败 with its group
It is part of HSK 4 (2021) · Group 35: a short group with quick checks and spaced repeats.