TongTong
Sign in

重创 (zhòng chuāng) — to inflict heavy losses, to seriously damage

Definition

重创 means 'to inflict heavy damage' on concrete things like economies, infrastructure, or companies. Unlike 摧残, it targets tangible objects and systems, not a person's body or spirit.

verb
to inflict heavy lossesto seriously damage

Examples

  • 重创。
    Zhàn zhēng zhòng chuāng le nà ge guó jiā de jīng jì.
    The war inflicted heavy losses on that country's economy.
  • 重创。
    Tái fēng zhòng chuāng le yán hǎi de cūn zhuāng.
    The typhoon caused serious damage to the coastal villages.
  • 重创。
    Zhè cì shì gù zhòng chuāng le zhè jiā gōng sī.
    This accident inflicted heavy losses on this company.

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.

重zhòngheavy
创chuàngwound

“重” (heavy) and “创” (wound) combine to mean serious damage.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng重zhòng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

Open 重 →

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 創; 创 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
刀刀dāoknife
Sound part声符shēngfú
倉
倉cāng創chuàng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 創 pairs 倉 with 刀 (knife) to write 'wound', and 倉 gives the pronunciation. The simplified 创 is a later shorthand.

Open 创 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Conflict & AgreementSafety & Danger

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