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万恶 (wàn è) — extremely evil

Definition

Literary adjective used before a noun to mean 'extremely / utterly evil' (社会, 战争, 罪行). Far stronger than 邪恶 — it paints the whole thing as evil to the core.

adjective
extremely evil

Examples

  • 万恶。
    wàn è De jiù shè huì zhōng yú jié shù le.
    The evil old society finally ended.
  • 万恶。
    wàn è De zhàn zhēng ràng wú shù jiā tíng pò suì.
    The evil war shattered countless families.
  • 万恶。
    wàn è De zuì xíng bì xū shòu dào fǎ lǜ de yán chéng.
    The evil crime must be severely punished by law.

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.

万wàncountless
恶èevil

万 'countless' intensifies 恶 'evil', giving extremely evil.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

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 →
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