啃老

kěnlǎo

verb

Meanings

HSK 4

他毕业五年了还在啃老。

Tā bìyè wǔ nián le hái zài kěnlǎo.

Five years after graduation he's still living off his parents.

HSK 6

房价这么高，不啃老怎么买得起？

Fángjià zhème gāo, bù kěnlǎo zěnme mǎi de qǐ?

With housing this expensive, how can you afford it without leaning on your parents?

culture

The 啃老族 (parent-dependent generation) became a social-issue term in the early 2000s. Compare Japanese parasite singles and Western boomerang kids.

memory

Literally gnaw on the old - the adult child is still chewing on the parents' savings.

啃 kěn

老 lǎo