败家子

敗家子

bàijiāzǐ

noun #36,981

Measure Word

一个败家子 gè

Meanings

1 spendthrift; wastrel
2 prodigal son
3 person who squanders the family fortune

Characters

to ruin / be defeated

Examples

他真是个败家子，把祖父的钱全花光了。

Tā zhēn shì ge bàijiāzǐ, bǎ zǔfù de qián quán huāguāng le.

He's a real wastrel — he spent every penny of his grandfather's money.

别让你儿子变成败家子。

Bié ràng nǐ érzi biànchéng bàijiāzǐ.

Don't let your son turn into a spendthrift.

村里都说他是个败家子。

Cūn lǐ dōu shuō tā shì ge bàijiāzǐ.

Everyone in the village calls him a wastrel.

Tips

culture

败家子 carries strong moral weight in Chinese — it's not just 'someone who spends a lot' but someone who actively destroys family wealth and reputation built up over generations. The term sits at the heart of Confucian family ethics about preserving 家业 'family enterprise' for descendants.

memory

Read it character-by-character: 败 'ruin' + 家 'family' + 子 'son' = 'family-ruining son'. Once you see this structure you can also recognize 败家女 'wastrel daughter' and the verb 败家 'to ruin one's family'.

Stroke Order

败 bài

家 jiā

子 zǐ