King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “prodigal”

败家子
bài jiā zǐ
Traditional: 敗家子
spendthrift; wastrel; prodigal

The closest CC-CEDICT match for prodigal is 败家子 (bài jiā zǐ), defined as: spendthrift; wastrel; prodigal.

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

败 bài
failure; to decline, to fail, to suffer defeat
radical 154 ⾙ · 8 strokes
家 jiā
house, home, residence; family
radical 40 ⼧ · 10 strokes
子 zǐ
son, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thing
radical 39 ⼦ · 3 strokes

Traditional forms

Other Chinese words for “prodigal”

WordPinyinMeaning
挥霍 (揮霍)huī huòto squander money; extravagant
阔气 (闊氣)kuò qilavish; generous

Related words

Other words that share a character with 败家子.

WordPinyinMeaning
失败 (失敗)shī bàito be defeated; to lose
腐败 (腐敗)fǔ bàicorruption; to corrupt
打败 (打敗)dǎ bàito defeat; to overpower
击败 (擊敗)jī bàito defeat; to beat
战败 (戰敗)zhàn bàito lose a war
败坏 (敗壞)bài huàito ruin; to corrupt
国家 (國家)guó jiācountry; nation; state
大家dà jiāeveryone; influential family
孩子hái zichild

See also: Japanese symbol for “prodigal”.

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.

Last posts

  1. What Size Shinai Does a Child Need for Kendo Practice
  2. Best Polypropylene Bokken for Hard Contact Training
  3. Best Foam Swords for Kids Martial Arts and Safe Practice
  4. Are Cold Steel Training Swords Good for Practice
  5. Shinai Maintenance and Essential Tools for Bamboo Care
  6. Best Shinai for Kendo Beginners Choosing Your First Sword
  7. Choosing the Best Bokken for Kendo Kata
  8. Using a Tsuba on Your Bokken for Partner Practice
  9. How Much Should You Spend on a Wooden Practice Sword
  10. How Long Should a Bokken Be for Your Height