劣质 (liè zhì) is an adjective meaning 'substandard' or 'inferior in quality.' It combines two characters: 劣 (liè), meaning 'poor,' 'inferior,' or 'low-grade,' and 质 (zhì), meaning 'quality' or 'substance.' Together, they literally mean 'poor quality' and are used almost exclusively to describe products, materials, or services that fail to meet basic standards of safety, durability, or performance.

This term carries a strong negative connotation and is commonly found in consumer protection contexts, news reports about counterfeit goods, food safety warnings, or product reviews. It’s rarely used for people or abstract concepts — it’s firmly tied to tangible items and their physical or functional shortcomings. You’ll often see it paired with nouns like 产品 (chǎnpǐn, 'product'), 食品 (shípǐn, 'food'), or 材料 (cáiliào, 'material'). Unlike neutral terms like 普通 (pǔtōng, 'ordinary'), 劣质 implies serious deficiency — often posing health or safety risks.