TongTong
Sign in

恶性 (è xìng) — (medicine) malignant, cancerous; (of a cycle or competition) vicious, cutthroat, self-reinforcing in a negative way; (of economic trends) runaway, rapid and severe (decline, inflation)

Definition

恶性 is a technical/formal adjective, almost always paired with 循环 'vicious cycle' or 肿瘤 'malignant tumor'. For moral 'evil/wicked' use 邪恶; for fierce people or animals use 凶恶.

adjective
(medicine) malignantcancerous(of a cycle or competition) vicious, cutthroat, self-reinforcing in a negative way(of economic trends) runawayrapid and severe (decline, inflation)

Examples

  • 恶性。
    Yī shēng fā xiàn tā de zhǒng liú shì è xìng de.
    The doctor found that his tumor was malignant.
  • ，。
    Zhè ge gōng sī xiàn rù le è xìng xún huán, yuè zuò yuè chà.
    This company fell into a vicious circle, getting worse the more it did.
  • 恶性。
    Zhèng fǔ zhèng zài cǎi qǔ cuò shī fáng zhǐ è xìng tōng huò péng zhàng.
    The government is taking measures to prevent runaway inflation.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

恶èbad/evil
性xìngquality

恶 supplies the sense of badness, and 性 presents it as a quality or tendency.

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 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 →

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
生
生shēng性xìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

性 is built from 忄 (the heart) and 生 (a sound clue). The heart part connects the word to a person's inner nature or quality.

Open 性 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Abstract ConceptsIllness & Symptoms

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