灾星 (zāi xīng) — bane; a person or thing that brings great trouble or misfortune; bad luck; jinx

Definition

Literally 'disaster star,' 灾星 names a person (or thing) thought to bring bad luck wherever they go — stronger and more figurative than just 'bad luck,' closer to 'a jinx.'

noun
banea person or thing that brings great trouble or misfortunebad luckjinx

Examples

  • 灾星，。
    Tā zhēn shì wǒ de zāi xīng, měi cì jiàn miàn dōu chū shì.
    He really is my jinx; every time we meet something goes wrong.
  • 灾星，。
    Dà jiā dōu shuō nà zhī hēi māo shì zāi xīng, bù jí lì.
    Everyone says that black cat is a bad omen, unlucky.
  • ，，灾星。
    Zì cóng tā lái le yǐ hòu, gōng sī lǐ shì shì bú shùn, dà jiā dōu bǎ tā dàng chéng zāi xīng.
    Since he came, everything at the company has gone wrong; everyone treats him like a bane.

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.

灾zāidisaster
星xīngstar

灾 means disaster and 星 means star, yielding a person or thing that brings bad luck.

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 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 →

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

The top of 星 is a later simplified form of 晶, twinkling stars; the bottom 生 shows the sound.

Open 星 →

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