辜负: meaning, pinyin, and usage

Understanding "辜负" - Chinese Word Explanation

1. Basic Information

• Word: 辜负
• Pinyin: gūfù
• Literal Meaning: To wrong or betray (辜) what one carries as a duty or debt (负)—roughly, “to turn one’s back on an obligation.”
• Primary Meaning: To let someone down; to fail to live up to someone’s kindness, trust, love, or expectations; to be unworthy of what another person has given you.

2. In-depth Explanation

• Context and Usage: Use 辜负 when someone has placed goodwill, faith, effort, or hope in you, and you fail to honor it. It is stronger and more moral than a casual “disappoint.” English “disappoint” can be light (“The movie disappointed me”); 辜负 usually implies that you owed something in return—gratitude, effort, loyalty, or care—and did not give it. Typical objects are abstract goods people invest in you: trust (信任), expectations (期望), kindness (好意), love (爱), or a teacher’s or parent’s hard work. The negative form 不辜负 (“not let down / live up to”) is very common and often sounds like a promise or a resolution. You would not normally use 辜负 for a broken machine, bad weather, or a minor letdown with no personal bond.
• Character Breakdown: 辜 (gū) originally relates to guilt, offense, or wrongdoing; in this word it supplies the sense of doing someone wrong. 负 (fù) means to carry on one’s back, to bear a burden, to owe, or to fail in a duty—and by extension, to turn one’s back on something. Together they describe failing to carry the moral weight of another person’s faith or kindness.

3. Example Sentences

• Chinese: 我不会辜负你的信任。
• Pinyin: Wǒ bú huì gūfù nǐ de xìnrèn.

• English: I will not let down your trust.

• Chinese: 他辜负了父母多年的期望。

• Pinyin: Tā gūfùle fùmǔ duōnián de qīwàng.

• English: He failed to live up to the expectations his parents had held for many years.

• Chinese: 别辜负这么好的机会。

• Pinyin: Bié gūfù zhème hǎo de jīhuì.
• English: Don’t waste such a good opportunity. (Here the “person” you might let down is yourself, or the chance itself—an extended but natural use.)

Cultural Notes (if applicable)

辜负 sits close to ideas of reciprocity and indebtedness that run through everyday Chinese moral language: if someone has shown you kindness (恩), trust, or parental sacrifice, failing them is not only sad but feels like a personal fault. That is why apologies and vows often use this word—“对不起，我辜负了你” weighs heavier than “I’m sorry I disappointed you.” A related modern phrase, 不负韶华 (“do not fail your youthful years”), uses the same emotional logic: time and goodwill are gifts you should not waste. Learners sometimes overuse 失望 (shīwàng, “to be disappointed”) where a native speaker would choose 辜负, because only 辜负 clearly marks that a duty of the heart was broken.

Conclusion

Remember 辜负 (gūfù) as “to be unworthy of someone’s faith or kindness.” It is not a mild disappointment; it is the feeling that you owed someone better and did not give it. Pair it with trust, expectations, and kindness, and use 不辜负 when you want to promise you will live up to them.

Sources and Further Reading

• MDBG Chinese Dictionary: 辜负
• Wiktionary: 辜负
• HSK vocabulary reference dataset

Dictionary links are provided for independent reference. Example sentences and learning notes on this page are educational explanations rather than dictionary quotations.