Chinese word

废物

Pronunciation

Pinyinfèi wù

Meaning

  • noungood-for-nothing

Example

别当废物了，我们都有事要做。bié dāng fèi wù le wǒ men dōu yǒu shì yào zuò

Don't be a good-for-nothing; we all have things to do.

Illustration for 废物 (good-for-nothing)

More examples

他曾是废物青年，现在成为公司骨干。tā céng shì fèi wù qīng nián xiàn zài chéng wéi gōng sī gǔ gàn

He used to be a good-for-nothing youth, but now he is a core member of the company.

Core concept

A thing pushed outside the circle of usefulness, with the same image extending to a person judged unable to contribute.

Common phrases

  • 废物青年fèi wù qīng nián

    good-for-nothing youth

  • 把自己当作废物bǎ zì jǐ dàng zuò fèi wù

    consider oneself a good-for-nothing

  • 称某人为废物chēng mǒu rén wéi fèi wù

    call someone a good-for-nothing

Similar words

废人fèi rén: A strongly contemptuous slang term for a person seen as unable to function in daily or social life.
垃圾lā jī: A spoken insult that treats a person as worthless, like something thrown away.

Definition in Chinese

功能丧失或毫无价值的事物，也可作贬义用来形容无用的人。gōng néng sàng shī huò háo wú jià zhí de shì wù yě kě zuò biǎn yì yòng lái xíng róng wú yòng de rén

Word origin

废物 (fèiwù, "discarded thing") combines 废 (fèi, "discard") + 物 (wù, "thing"), so the compound first names something rejected for having no use and then extends that label to a person judged useless.

Usage tips

  • In conversation, applying this word to a person is a strong insult rather than a neutral comment about poor performance, so it is unsuitable for polite or formal speech.

Other meanings

  • trashnoun
  • wastenoun

Opposites

Related words

  • 生活废物shēng huó fèi wùhousehold wastenoun
  • 工业废物gōng yè fèi wùindustrial wastenoun

Word lists with this word