Chinese symbol for “useless”
没用
méi yòng
Traditional: 沒用
useless
The closest CC-CEDICT match for useless is 没用 (méi yòng), defined as: useless.
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 “useless”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 无用 (無用) | wú yòng | useless; worthless |
| 老朽 | lǎo xiǔ | decrepit and behind the times; old; useless; (humble) I; me (used by the elderly) |
| 于事无补 (於事無補) | yú shì wú bǔ | unhelpful; useless |
| 不当事 (不當事) | bù dāng shì | useless; regard as useless |
| 不稂不莠 | bù láng bù yǒu | useless; worthless |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 没用.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 没有 (沒有) | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't |
| 有没有 (有沒有) | yǒu méi yǒu | (before a noun) Do (you, they etc) have ...?; Is there a ...? |
| 没什么 (沒什麼) | méi shén me | it doesn't matter; it's nothing; never mind; think nothing of it; it's my pleasure; you're welcome |
| 没错 (沒錯) | méi cuò | that's right; sure! |
| 没想到 (沒想到) | méi xiǎng dào | didn't expect |
| 没事 (沒事) | méi shì | it's not important; it's nothing |
| 使用 | shǐ yòng | to use; to employ |
| 利用 | lì yòng | to exploit; to make use of |
See also: Japanese symbol for “useless”.
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.