壞

Translingual

Han character

壞 (Kangxi radical 32, 土+16, 19 strokes, cangjie input 土卜田女 (GYWV), four-corner 4413₂, composition ⿰土褱)

Derived characters

• 蘾

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 242, character 3
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5590
• Dae Jaweon: page 481, character 27
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 500, character 2
• Unihan data for U+58DE

Chinese

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡruːls) : semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 褱 (OC *ɡruːl, *ɡruːl).

Etymology 1

Compare Tibetan འདྲུལ ('drul, “to become putrid/rotten”), Tibetan བྲུལ (brul, “crumbles”) (Hill, 2019).

Pronunciation

Definitions

壞

1. bad

   壞人／坏人  ―  huàirén  ―  bad person

   壞習慣／坏习惯  ―  huài xíguàn  ―  bad habits

2. rotten; spoiled

   壞雞蛋／坏鸡蛋  ―  huài jīdàn  ―  rotten egg

   這蘋果壞了。／这苹果坏了。  ―  Zhè píngguǒ huài le.  ―  This apple is rotten.

   牛奶壞了。／牛奶坏了。  ―  Niúnǎi huài le.  ―  The milk is spoiled.

3. to spoil; to ruin

   壞了大事／坏了大事  ―  huài le dàshì  ―  to ruin an important thing

   過期的牛奶喝了會壞肚子。 [MSC, trad.]
   过期的牛奶喝了会坏肚子。 [MSC, simp.]

   Guòqī de niúnǎi hē le huì huài dùzi.

   Drinking expired milk will (would cause or lead to) upset stomach (gastrointestinal symptoms).

4. to break; to stop working

   鏡子摔壞了／镜子摔坏了  ―  jìngzǐ shuāi huài le  ―  to have smashed a mirror

   聽說掃地機器人很容易壞。 [MSC, trad.]
   听说扫地机器人很容易坏。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tīngshuō sǎodì jīqìrén hěn róngyì huài.

   I've heard that robot vacuums breaks (stops working) very easily.

   到而家都仲未壞，真係犀利。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   到而家都仲未坏，真系犀利。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   dou³ ji⁴ gaa¹ dou¹ zung⁶ mei⁶ waai⁶, zan¹ hai⁶ sai¹ lei⁶.

   It's amazing, it hasn't broken.

5. (Classical) to collapse

   • 諺曰：「蠹眾而木折，隙大而牆壞。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     谚曰：「蠹众而木折，隙大而墙坏。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Lord Shang, circa 3^rd century BCE

     Yàn yuē: “Dù zhòng ér mù zhé, xì dà ér qiáng huài.”

     The saying runs: 'Many woodworms and the wood snaps, a large fissure and the wall collapses.'

6. (Classical) to demolish; to destroy

   • 暴君代作，壞宮室以為汙池，民無所安息。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     暴君代作，坏宫室以为污池，民无所安息。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Bàojūn dàizuò, huài gōngshì yǐ wéi wūchí, mín wú suǒ ānxī.

     Oppressive sovereigns arose one after another, who pulled down houses to make ponds and lakes, so that the people knew not where they could rest in quiet.

7. bad idea; dirty trick
8. extremely; very; highly

   嚇壞了／吓坏了  ―  xià huài le  ―  to be badly scared

Synonyms

• (bad):

• (to spoil):

• (to ruin):

• (extremely):

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “bad”): 好 (hǎo)

Compounds

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

Definitions

壞

1. (Cantonese) naughty; mischievous; rebellious; disobedient

Synonyms

Japanese

Kanji

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 壊)

1. Kyūjitai form of 壊: break

Readings

• Go-on: え (e)^{←ゑ (we, historical)}
• Kan-on: かい (kai)^{←くわい (kwai, historical)}
• Kun: こわす (kowasu, 壞す); こわれる (kowareru, 壞れる); やぶる (yaburu, 壞る)
• Nanori: つち (tsuchi)

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 壞 (MC kweajH).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): ~
• Phonetic hangul:
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

壞

Wikisource

壞 (eumhun 무너질 괴 (muneojil goe))

1. Hanja form^? of 괴 (“to break; to collapse”).

Compounds

References

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

Vietnamese

Han character

壞: Hán Nôm readings: hoại, hoải, hoai

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.