噩耗 (è hào) — news of someone's death; sad news of a death

Definition

噩耗 (èhào) means tragic news of a death — always sad and serious. It is more literary and heavy than the everyday phrase 坏消息.

noun
news of someone's deathsad news of a death
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 噩耗,。
    Jīn tiān zǎo shàng chuán lái yí gè è hào, tā de fù qīn zuó tiān yè lǐ qù shì le.
    This morning came the grievous news that his father passed away last night.
  • 噩耗。
    Shuí dōu bù rěn xīn bǎ zhè ge è hào gào sù tā.
    No one had the heart to tell her this tragic news.
  • 噩耗。
    Zhè tiáo è hào ràng zhěng gè chéng shì xiàn rù le bēi tòng.
    This piece of terrible news plunged the whole city into grief.

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.

噩èterrible

噩 gives a sense of terror, and 耗 means news; together they name terrible news of a death.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 噩 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 耗 →

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