妖孽 (yāo niè) — (literary) unlucky omen, portent of disaster; calamity, catastrophe; evildoer, monster (used metaphorically for a malicious person)

Definition

A literary word for 'demon, evil spirit' — used for omens of disaster and, metaphorically, for a monstrous evildoer. Stronger and more archaic than everyday words like 坏人.

noun
(literary) unlucky omenportent of disastercalamitycatastropheevildoermonster (used metaphorically for a malicious person)

Examples

  • 妖孽。
    Gǔ dài rén rèn wéi rì shí shì yāo niè de zhēng zhào.
    Ancient people regarded solar eclipses as portents of disaster.
  • 妖孽。
    Nà chǎng zhàn zhēng dài lái de yāo niè ràng bǎi xìng kǔ bù kān yán.
    The calamities brought by that war made the people suffer unspeakably.
  • 妖孽，。
    Zhè ge tān guān jiǎn zhí shì shè huì yāo niè, rén rén tòng hèn.
    This corrupt official is a social monster, hated by everyone.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

妖yāodemon/evil
孽nièevil/monster

妖 and 孽 both carry evil, monstrous senses, so the sense is a calamity or evildoer.

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
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
夭
夭yāo妖yāo
Same sound today

妖 is built from 女 (woman) and 夭; the 女 part relates to the meaning, while 夭 gives the sound.

Open 妖 →

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
子子zǐchild
Sound part声符shēngfú
薛
薛xuē孽niè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

孽 uses 子 to show it is about a child, and 薛 to give its sound.

Open 孽 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.