Naming a person as a discarded object. The insult works by calling somebody a thing rather than a person, and the neutral second syllable is what marks this reading.
The boss called him a good-for-nothing in front of everyone.
Tips
mistakes
The full fourth tone 废物 is the concrete noun for waste material. This neutral second syllable, 废物, is used only of people, and it is an insult.
register
废物 is an insult. Aimed at another person it is harsh; used about oneself it is usually self-deprecating, as in the online label 废物青年, which young people apply to themselves about drifting without work or direction.
