Chinese symbol for “deteriorate”
变质
biàn zhì
Traditional: 變質
to degenerate; to deteriorate; (of food) to go bad; to go off; (geology) metamorphism
The closest CC-CEDICT match for deteriorate is 变质 (biàn zhì), defined as: to degenerate; to deteriorate; (of food) to go bad; to go off; (geology) metamorphism.
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
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “deteriorate”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 衰落 | shuāi luò | to fall; to drop |
| 陵夷 | líng yí | to deteriorate; to decline |
| 走下坡 | zǒu xià pō | (fig.) to decline; to deteriorate; to go downhill |
| 衰败 (衰敗) | shuāi bài | to decline; to wane |
| 凌夷 | líng yí | to deteriorate; to decline |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 变质.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 改变 (改變) | gǎi biàn | to change; to alter |
| 变化 (變化) | biàn huà | (intransitive) to change; to vary; change; variation |
| 变成 (變成) | biàn chéng | to change into; to turn into |
| 变得 (變得) | biàn de | to become |
| 转变 (轉變) | zhuǎn biàn | to change; to transform |
| 变态 (變態) | biàn tài | to metamorphose (biology); abnormal |
| 质量 (質量) | zhì liàng | (physics) mass; quality (i.e. degree of excellence) |
| 物质 (物質) | wù zhì | matter; substance |
See also: Japanese symbol for “deteriorate”.
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.