失利

shīlì

verb HSK 7-9 #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

HSK 5

中国队在半决赛中失利。

Zhōngguó duì zài bànjuésài zhōng shīlì.

The Chinese team lost in the semifinals.

HSK 6

这次投资失利让他损失了不少钱。

Zhècì tóuzī shīlì ràng tā sǔnshī le bùshǎo 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