Chinese symbol for “decay”
衰
shuāi
(bound form) to decay; to decline; to wane
The closest CC-CEDICT match for decay is 衰 (shuāi), defined as: (bound form) to decay; to decline; to wane.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Other Chinese words for “decay”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 腐 | fǔ | decay; rotten |
| 颓败 (頹敗) | tuí bài | to decay; to decline |
| 衰败 (衰敗) | shuāi bài | to decline; to wane |
| 蜕变 (蛻變) | tuì biàn | to transform; to morph |
| 腐化 | fǔ huà | to rot; to decay |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 衰.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 衰退 | shuāi tuì | to decline; to fall |
| 衰落 | shuāi luò | to fall; to drop |
| 衰败 (衰敗) | shuāi bài | to decline; to wane |
| 衰老 | shuāi lǎo | to age; to deteriorate with age |
| 衰竭 | shuāi jié | (of an organ or bodily function) failure; to fail; (of resources etc) exhaustion; depletion |
| 兴衰 (興衰) | xīng shuāi | prosperity and decline (of a kingdom); rise and fall |
See also: Japanese symbol for “decay”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.