啃老

kěnlǎo

verb

Meanings

Tā bìyè wǔ nián le hái zài kěnlǎo.

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

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