Chinese word

宰客

Pronunciation

Pinyinzǎi kè

Meaning

  • verbovercharge

Example

这家店常常宰客，要小心。zhè jiā diàn cháng cháng zǎi kè yào xiǎo xīn

This shop often overcharges customers, so be careful.

Illustration for 宰客 (overcharge)

More examples

我上次在夜市被宰客了，付款比标价高很多。wǒ shàng cì zài yè shì bèi zǎi kè le fù kuǎn bǐ biāo jià gāo hěn duō

Last time, I was overcharged at the night market and paid much more than the listed price.

Core concept

A seller takes an unfairly large cut from a customer's payment by hiding the real price or exploiting the customer's lack of choice.

Common phrases

  • 被宰客了bèi zǎi kè le

    be overcharged

  • 举报宰客jǔ bào zǎi kè

    report overcharging

  • 宰客的店zǎi kè de diàn

    shop that overcharges customers

Similar words

坑kēng: Deceiving someone to gain money or another unfair advantage from them.
骗piàn: Using deception to obtain another person's money or possessions.
抬价tái jià: Pushing a price above the going market rate before charging it.
乱收费luàn shōu fèi: Adding or demanding charges arbitrarily instead of following rules or standard rates.

Definition in Chinese

指商家或服务者以欺骗、隐瞒或强迫等手段向顾客索取明显高于正常水平的费用。zhǐ shāng jiā huò fú wù zhě yǐ qī piàn yǐn mán huò qiǎng pò děng shǒu duàn xiàng gù kè suó qǔ míng xiǎn gāo yú zhèng cháng shuǐ píng de fèi yòng

Word origin

宰客 (zǎikè, "overcharge a customer") combines 宰 (zǎi, "butcher") with 客 (kè, "customer"), extending 宰's older cutting sense into a metaphor for taking an excessive payment from a customer.

Usage tips

  • Unlike a simple billing mistake, this word normally points to deliberate exploitation, so it signals a stronger complaint than a neutral report that a price is high.

Other meanings

  • rip offverb

Opposites

  • 诚信经营chéng xìn jīng yíngoperate honestlyverb

Word lists with this word