失利

shīlì

verb HSK 7 #16,026

Meanings

1 to suffer a defeat
2 to lose (a competition or battle)

Characters

to lose; to fail

advantage; victory

Literally 'lose the advantage' — to come out on the losing side.

Examples

中国队在半决赛中失利。

Zhōngguó duì zài bànjuésài zhōng shīlì.

The Chinese team lost in the semifinals.

这次投资失利让他损失了不少钱。

Zhè cì tóuzī shīlì ràng tā sǔnshī le bù shǎo qián.

This investment failure cost him a lot of money.

Tips

register

失利 is more formal and restrained than 失败 (failure). It's commonly used in sports reporting and news — it softens the blow of a loss, implying it was a setback rather than a total failure.

Stroke Order

失 shī

利 lì