输家

• Pinyin: shū jiā
• Hanzi breakdown: 输 = 车 + 俞 (carriage + hollow — to transport; to lose); 家 = 宀 + 豕 (roof + pig — home; person suffix)

Meaning

Loser; the party that loses in a competition, negotiation, or conflict.

Used across sports, business, politics, and social contexts. The opposite of 赢家 (winner). Can be applied metaphorically to describe a party that consistently fails or makes poor strategic decisions. Common in analytical and journalistic writing.

Examples

1. 这场并购中，真正的输家是听信传言、在高位追买股票的散户。 In this merger, the real losers were the retail investors who believed the rumors and bought the stock at its peak.
2. 协议里若核心条款让步过多，那一方才是这场外交博弈的输家。 If one side concedes too much on the key terms in the agreement, that side is the loser in this diplomatic contest.
3. 全球化中，一些发展中国家因转型慢、谈判弱，成了贸易自由化的输家。 In globalization, some developing countries became losers in trade liberalization because their transition was slow and their bargaining power weak.

Usage Guide

Context: business, politics, sports, negotiation, analysis

Tone: analytical

Do Say

• 在这场大国博弈中，没有绝对意义上的赢家，每个参与方都在某些层面付出了代价，成为了不同程度的输家。(In this great-power competition, there are no absolute winners; every participant has paid a price in some respect, becoming a loser to varying degrees.)
• 历史证明，拒绝承认失败的输家往往比接受现实并重新出发的失败者付出更为惨重的代价，执念于翻盘只会加深最终的损失。(History has shown that losers who refuse to acknowledge defeat often pay a far heavier price than those who accept reality and start afresh; fixating on reversing the outcome only deepens the ultimate losses.)

Don't Say

• 输家 as a self-description in formal writing — use 失败者 (the defeated party) or 败方 (the losing side) instead; 输家 is conversational and may sound overly casual or self-deprecating in professional or written contexts

Origin & History

输 (to lose; to transport — 车 carriage + 俞 hollow) + 家 (person with a particular role — 宀 roof + 豕 pig)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal