耗费

• Pinyin: hào fèi
• Hanzi breakdown: 耗 = gradual depletion; 费 = 贝 (shell/money) + 弗 (not) — to spend money

Meaning

To expend; to consume; to use up. Refers to the spending or depletion of time, money, energy, or resources.

More formal and deliberate than the single character 耗. Often used in written contexts to describe significant investments of resources. Common objects include 时间 (time), 精力 (energy), 财力 (financial resources), and 资源 (resources).

Examples

1. 建造这座大桥耗费了大量的人力和物力。 Building this bridge consumed a huge amount of labor and materials.
2. 他在这个研究项目上耗费了多年的精力。 He poured years of energy into this research project.
3. 无谓的争论只会耗费大家宝贵的时间，应该尽快形成共识。 Pointless arguments only waste everyone’s valuable time; we should reach a consensus as soon as possible.

Usage Guide

Context: resources, project management, economics, formal writing

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 该工程耗费了超过五十亿元的资金，历时八年才竣工。(The project consumed over 5 billion yuan in funding and took eight years to complete.)
• 反复修改文件耗费了我们大量不必要的精力。(Repeatedly revising documents consumed a great deal of our unnecessary energy.)

Don't Say

• 耗费 for small everyday consumption — 用了 or 花了 is more natural for minor expenditures like 'I spent five minutes on this'

Origin & History

耗 (deplete/consume) + 费 (spend/expense)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal