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倒霉 (dǎo méi) — unlucky; having bad luck

Definition

Adjective for a stretch of bad luck affecting a person. Unlike 糟糕 (focused on a single bad outcome), 倒霉 describes ongoing misfortune; it's more colloquial than 不幸, which is formal/literary.

adjective
unluckyhaving bad luck

Examples

  • 倒霉，。
    Tā zuì jìn hěn dǎo méi, gāng diū le gōng zuò.
    He's been very unlucky lately; he just lost his job.
  • ，倒霉。
    Zhè cì kǎo shì yòu méi kǎo hǎo, zhēn shì dǎo méi.
    I didn't do well on this exam again; it's really bad luck.
  • 倒霉。
    dǎo méi De shì zǒng ràng wǒ pèng dào.
    I always run into unlucky things.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

倒dǎoencounter
霉méibad luck

The idea of 倒 as encountering or falling into something combines with 霉 as mold or bad luck, giving the sense of misfortune.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
到
到dào倒dào
Same sound today

倒 combines 亻 (person) with 到, which gives the sound.

Open 倒 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
雨雨yǔrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
每
每měi霉méi
Same sound today

The top 雨 (rain) points to dampness, and the bottom 每 (měi) gives the sound.

Open 霉 →
Appears in
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