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恶劣 (è liè) — very bad, nasty, vile (of conditions, behavior, or attitude)

Definition

Describes conditions, behavior, or attitude as 'very bad / nasty' — broader than 可恶 (which targets hateful people/actions) and stronger than 劣质 (which only describes shoddy product quality).

adjective
very badnastyvile (of conditions, behavior, or attitude)

Examples

  • 恶劣。
    Zhè lǐ de jiāo tōng tiáo jiàn shí fēn è liè.
    The traffic conditions here are extremely poor.
  • 恶劣。
    Tā yīn wèi xíng wéi è liè bèi gōng sī kāi chú le.
    He was fired by the company because of his nasty behavior.
  • 恶劣。
    è liè De tiān qì dǎo zhì háng bān quán bù qǔ xiāo.
    The terrible weather caused all flights to be canceled.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

恶èbad
劣lièpoor

恶 gives the sense of badness, and 劣 gives the sense of poor quality, so together they mean vile or very bad.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 惡; 恶 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
亞
亞yā惡è
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 惡 pairs 心 (heart) as the meaning part with 亞 (yā) as the sound part; the simplified 恶 is a later shorthand.

Open 恶 →

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

劣 combines 少 (little/less) with 力 (strength), showing less strength, hence bad or inferior.

Open 劣 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Good & Bad

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