干爹 (gāndiē): godfather

Meanings

1 godfather
2 adoptive father (informal, without legal effect)
3 (slang) sugar daddy

Characters

干

gān

dry; adoptive (relation)

爹

diē

father; dad

Examples

小时候父母让我拜了一个干爹。

Xiǎo shíhou fùmǔ ràng wǒ bài le yí ge gāndiē.

When I was little, my parents had me take a godfather.

她被爆出有个有钱的干爹。

Tā bèi bào chū yǒu ge yǒu qián de gāndiē.

It came out that she has a wealthy 'godfather' (sugar daddy).

Tips

culture

Traditional 干爹/干妈 are ritual adoptive parents — a social bond, no legal adoption. In the 2010s Chinese celebrity-gossip era 干爹 gained a slang 'sugar daddy' reading and is now often ambiguous depending on context.

usage

Traditional simplified is 干爹, traditional-character form 乾爹 (the 'dry/adoptive' 乾 rather than 干). Child to parent, the kinship terms are 干爹/干妈; parent to child 干儿子/干女儿.