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糟糕 (zāo gāo) — terrible, awful; what bad luck

Definition

An exclamation of dismay — 'oh no!' or 'what bad luck!' — used to react to a sudden mishap. Lighter and more exclamatory than 倒霉, which describes a run of bad luck rather than a single bad moment.

adjective
terribleawfulwhat bad luck

Examples

  • 糟糕。
    Jīn tiān de tiān qì zhēn zāo gāo.
    The weather today is really awful.
  • 糟糕。
    Zhè shì wǒ yù dào de zuì zāo gāo de shì.
    This is the worst thing I've ever encountered.
  • 糟糕，！
    zāo gāo, Wǒ bǎ shǒu jī wàng zài jiā lǐ le!
    Oh no! I left my phone at home!

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

糟zāo
糕gāo

The two characters together spell one word meaning terrible; 糟 and 糕 do not carry separate meanings here.

Sound-only characters

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
米米mǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
曹
曹cáo糟zāo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

糟 pairs 米 (rice) with 曹, which gives its sound; the rice side points to liquor made from fermented rice, originally meaning unfiltered.

Open 糟 →

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
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
羔
羔gāo糕gāo
Same sound today

糕 pairs 米 (rice) with 羔 (lamb). 米 points to a rice-flour food, and 羔 gives the sound; since lamb can be cooked, it may also hint at food.

Open 糕 →
Appears in
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