横祸 (hèng huò) — unexpected calamity, sudden misfortune

Definition

横祸 means a sudden, unexpected disaster (accident, tragedy) — not a natural disaster, but misfortune that strikes out of nowhere. Often used in the fixed phrase 飞来横祸 ('disaster strikes from the sky').

noun
unexpected calamitysudden misfortune

Examples

  • ，横祸。
    Tā běn lái shēng huó hěn píng jìng, méi xiǎng dào fēi lái hèng huò.
    His life was originally very peaceful, but unexpectedly a sudden calamity befell him.
  • 横祸。
    Zhè cì jiāo tōng shì gù duì tā lái shuō zhēn shì hèng huò.
    This traffic accident was truly an unexpected disaster for him.
  • 横祸。
    Shuí yě méi xiǎng dào tā huì zāo yù zhè yàng de hèng huò.
    No one expected that he would suffer such an unexpected calamity.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

横héngunexpected
祸huòdisaster

横 means unexpected or untoward, and 祸 means disaster; together they name sudden 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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 橫; 横 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
黃
黃huáng橫héng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 橫 has 木, meaning wood, beside 黃, which supplies the sound; the simplified 横 is a later abbreviation.

Open 横 →

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 →

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