Definitions

huài (adjective) bad; broken; spoiled
huài (verb) to break down; to spoil

Etymology

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The modern character 坏 (huài) is the simplified form of the traditional character 壞. The traditional form combines the semantic earth radical 土 (tǔ) with the phonetic component 褱 (huái), originally referring to ruined or collapsed earth. This meaning later generalized to describe anything bad, broken, or evil. The simplified form 坏 historically existed as a separate character meaning an unburned brick or dirt mound, formed from the earth radical 土 and the phonetic component 不 (bù). Due to its simpler structure, this character was borrowed to represent the common concept of "bad" or "broken".

Etymology Hide

Bronze etymology image
Bronze Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我的手机了。

Wǒ de shǒujī huàile.

My phone is broken.

天气突然变了。

Tiānqì túrán biàn huàile.

The weather suddenly turned bad.

他是个人吗?

Tā shì gè huài rén ma?

Is he a bad person?

蛋糕被放了。

Dàngāo bèi fàng huàile.

The cake was spoiled from being left out.

心情会影响健康。

Huài xīnqíng huì yǐngxiǎng jiànkāng.

Bad mood can affect health.

如果你继续这样做,事情会变得更

Rúguǒ nǐ jìxù zhèyàng zuò, shìqíng huì biàn de gèng huài.

If you continue to do this, things will become worse.

这个消息让所有人都感到难过。

Zhège huài xiāoxī ràng suǒyǒu rén dōu gǎndào nánguò.

This bad news made everyone feel sad.

尽管环境很,但他们依然坚持工作。

Jǐnguǎn huánjìng hěn huài, dàn tāmen yīrán jiānchí gōngzuò.

Even though the environment is bad, they still persist in working.