Chinese symbol for “unaffordable”

支付不起

zhī fù bù qǐ

to be unable to pay; unaffordable

The closest CC-CEDICT match for unaffordable is 支付不起 (zhī fù bù qǐ), defined as: to be unable to pay; unaffordable.

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

支 zhī

to support, to sustain; to withdraw, to pay; a branch (of a bank)

radical 65 ⽀ · 4 strokes

付 fù

give, deliver, pay, hand over; entrust

radical 9 ⼈ · 5 strokes

不 bù

no, not, un-; negative prefix

radical 1 ⼀ · 4 strokes

起 qǐ

to begin, to initiate; to rise, to stand up

radical 156 ⾛ · 10 strokes

Related words

Other words that share a character with 支付不起.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
支持	zhī chí	to be in favor of; to support
支付	zhī fù	to pay (money)
支援	zhī yuán	to provide assistance; to support
支撑 (支撐)	zhī chēng	to prop up; to support
支出	zhī chū	to spend; to pay out; expenses; expenditure
支持者	zhī chí zhě	supporter
对付 (對付)	duì fu	to handle; to deal with; to tackle; to get by with; to make do
付出	fù chū	to pay; to expend; to invest (energy or time)
不是	bù shì	no; is not
起来 (起來)	qǐ lai	to stand up; to get up; also pr. [qi3lai2]

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.