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幸灾乐祸 (xìng zāi lè huò) — to gloat over someone's misfortune; to take pleasure in another's bad luck

Definition

A four-character idiom for gloating over someone else's misfortune — feeling pleased rather than sympathetic when bad things happen to others. Strongly negative judgment of the speaker's character.

idiom
to gloat over someone's misfortuneto take pleasure in another's bad luck

Examples

  • ，幸灾乐祸，。
    Kàn dào tóng shì shī bài, tā jū rán xìng zāi lè huò, zhēn ràng rén shī wàng.
    Seeing his colleague fail, he actually gloated — really disappointing.
  • 幸灾乐祸，。
    Bú yào duì bié rén de tòng kǔ xìng zāi lè huò, zhè yàng hěn bú dào dé.
    Don't gloat over others' pain; it's very immoral.
  • ，，幸灾乐祸。
    Tā kǎo shì méi kǎo hǎo, tā de péng you bú dàn bù ān wèi tā, fǎn ér xìng zāi lè huò.
    She didn't do well on the exam; instead of comforting her, her friend gloated.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

幸灾take pleasure in disaster
幸xìngtake pleasure in灾zāidisaster
动宾Verb + object
乐祸take pleasure in calamity
乐lètake pleasure in祸huòcalamity
动宾Verb + object

幸灾 (take pleasure in disaster) and 乐祸 (rejoice over calamity) together mean gloating over misfortune.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 幸 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 災; 灾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡿧
𡿧𡿧災zāi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 災 combines 火 (fire) with 𡿧, an old picture of flowing water that supplied the sound; the simplified 灾 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 灾 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 樂; 乐 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 樂, 絲 (string) with 木 (wood) shows strings on a piece of wood, a musical instrument; the simplified 乐 is a later shorthand.

Open 乐 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 禍; 祸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
示示shìsacrifice
Sound part声符shēngfú
咼
咼wāi禍huò
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The simplified 祸 is an abbreviation of traditional 禍, which pairs 示 (sacrifice) with 咼 to show pronunciation.

Open 祸 →
Appears in
Emotions & FeelingsIdioms & Set Phrases

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