Chinese symbol for “shortcoming”
短处
duǎn chù
Traditional: 短處
shortcoming; defect; fault; one's weak points
The closest CC-CEDICT match for shortcoming is 短处 (duǎn chù), defined as: shortcoming; defect; fault; one's weak points.
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 “shortcoming”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 缺点 (缺點) | quē diǎn | weak point; fault |
| 故障 | gù zhàng | malfunction; breakdown |
| 缺失 | quē shī | lack; deficiency; shortcoming; flaw; defect |
| 短板 | duǎn bǎn | short stave of the barrel (which allows the contents to escape); (fig.) shortcoming; weak point |
| 硬伤 (硬傷) | yìng shāng | injury; trauma |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 短处.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 短期 | duǎn qī | short-term |
| 短片 | duǎn piàn | short film; video clip |
| 短暂 (短暫) | duǎn zàn | of short duration; brief; momentary |
| 缩短 (縮短) | suō duǎn | to shorten; to reduce; to curtail |
| 短缺 | duǎn quē | shortage |
| 短信 | duǎn xìn | text message; SMS |
| 处理 (處理) | chǔ lǐ | to handle; to deal with; to punish |
| 处于 (處於) | chǔ yú | to be in (some state, position, or condition) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “shortcoming”.
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.