劣质

• Pinyin: liè zhì
• Hanzi breakdown: 劣 = 少 + 力 (inferior — lacking in fundamental strength); 质 = 斤 + 贝 (quality/substance — value assessed by weight and worth)

Meaning

Inferior quality; substandard; shoddy. Describes products, materials, or work that fall significantly below acceptable standards.

Used to criticise goods or services that are poorly made, unsafe, or fraudulent. Commonly paired with nouns like 产品 (products), 原材料 (raw materials), or 工程 (construction projects). Has strong negative connotations and often appears in consumer protection, regulatory, and investigative journalism contexts. Can also be used metaphorically to describe poor-quality reasoning or output.

Examples

1. 监管部门在市场抽检中发现大量劣质建材流入工程项目，立即启动专项整治行动。 Regulators found a large amount of substandard construction materials entering engineering projects during spot checks and immediately launched a targeted crackdown.
2. 这批劣质电子产品因严重的安全隐患被海关扣押，无法进入国内市场销售。 This batch of substandard electronic products was seized by customs due to serious safety hazards and could not be sold on the domestic market.
3. 消费者协会呼吁公众提高警惕，避免购买价格异常低廉的劣质食品。 The consumer association urged the public to stay alert and avoid buying substandard foods with suspiciously low prices.

Usage Guide

Context: consumer protection, regulatory affairs, product quality

Tone: critical

Do Say

• 该企业长期以次充好，向市场销售劣质农药，严重危害农业生产安全。(This enterprise had long been selling inferior-quality pesticides under the guise of premium products, seriously endangering agricultural production safety.)
• 使用劣质原材料偷工减料的建筑项目一旦被查实，开发商将面临严厉的法律制裁。(Construction projects that cut corners by using substandard raw materials, once verified, will face severe legal sanctions for the developer.)

Don't Say

• 用'劣质'描述人的能力水平 — 该词专指物品或材料的质量，评价人的能力应用'低劣'或'差劲'

Origin & History

劣 (inferior/poor — 少 + 力, deficient in strength) + 质 (quality/substance — the essential nature of a thing)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal