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