Chinese symbol for “rotten”
腐朽
fǔ xiǔ
rotten; decayed; decadent; degenerate
The closest CC-CEDICT match for rotten is 腐朽 (fǔ xiǔ), defined as: rotten; decayed; decadent; degenerate.
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 “rotten”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 朽 | xiǔ | rotten |
| 腐臭 | fǔ chòu | rotten (smell); stinking |
| 破 | pò | broken; damaged |
| 腐败 (腐敗) | fǔ bài | corruption; to corrupt |
| 朽坏 (朽壞) | xiǔ huài | rotten |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 腐朽.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 腐败 (腐敗) | fǔ bài | corruption; to corrupt |
| 豆腐 | dòu fu | tofu; bean curd |
| 贪腐 (貪腐) | tān fǔ | corruption |
| 腐蚀 (腐蝕) | fǔ shí | corrosion; to corrode (degrade chemically) |
| 腐烂 (腐爛) | fǔ làn | to rot; to putrefy |
| 不朽 | bù xiǔ | to last forever; eternal; enduring |
| 老朽 | lǎo xiǔ | decrepit and behind the times; old; useless; (humble) I; me (used by the elderly) |
| 朽木 | xiǔ mù | rotten wood |
See also: Japanese symbol for “rotten”.
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.