Chinese symbol for “skimp”
敷衍
fū yǎn
to elaborate (on a theme); to expound (the classics); perfunctory; to skimp
The closest CC-CEDICT match for skimp is 敷衍 (fū yǎn), defined as: to elaborate (on a theme); to expound (the classics); perfunctory; to skimp; to botch; to do sth half-heartedly or just for show.
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 “skimp”
Related words
Other words that share a character with 敷衍.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 入不敷出 | rù bù fū chū | income does not cover expenditure; unable to make ends meet |
| 敷设 (敷設) | fū shè | to lay; to spread out |
| 热敷 (熱敷) | rè fū | to apply a hot compress |
| 外敷 | wài fū | to apply externally |
| 敷衍了事 | fū yǎn liǎo shì | (idiom) to do things half-heartedly; to merely go through the motions |
| 衍生 | yǎn shēng | to give rise to; to derive |
| 繁衍 | fán yǎn | to multiply; to reproduce |
| 衍射 | yǎn shè | (physics) to diffract |
See also: Japanese symbol for “skimp”.
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.