壞 meaning and stroke order
Bad, rotten, spoiled; to break down
How to write 壞, stroke by stroke
19 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 壞
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- bad
- spoiled
- broken
- to break down
- (suffix) to the utmost
How 壞 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Earth.
土 gives the meaning and 褱 hints at the sound.
Radical: 土 (soil), shared by 183 characters on this site.
How to remember 壞
壞 combines 土 (earth) on the left with 褱 on the right, which gives the sound. Picture an earthen wall crumbling into dirt: when earth falls apart, things go bad and break down.
壞 (huài) is the traditional form of 坏, used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and older texts. It describes bad people or things, objects that are broken, and food that has spoiled. After a verb or adjective it can mean "to the utmost", as in 累壞了 (lèi huài le, exhausted). Example: 我的手機壞了。 (Wǒ de shǒujī huài le.) My phone is broken.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 壞 with 懷 (huái, bosom, to cherish), which shares the same right side 褱 but has the heart radical 忄. 壞 is fourth tone and 懷 is second tone. Remember that 土 means crumbling earth and something bad, while 忄 means feelings.
Common words with 壞
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 壞人 | huàirén | bad person; villain | HSK 2 |
| 壞處 | huàichù | harm; troubles | HSK 2 |
| 破壞 | pòhuài | destruction; damage | HSK 3 |
| 壞事 | huàishì | bad thing; misdeed; to ruin things | HSK 7-9 |
| 損壞 | sǔnhuài | to damage; to injure | HSK 7-9 |
| 毀壞 | huǐhuài | to damage; to devastate | HSK 7-9 |
| 好壞 | hǎohuài | good or bad; good and bad | HSK 7-9 |
| 時好時壞 | shíhǎo-shíhuài | sometimes good, sometimes bad | HSK 7-9 |
| 嚇壞 | xiàhuài | to be terrified; to terrify sb | |
| 壞蛋 | huàidàn | bad egg; scoundrel | |
| 壞掉 | huàidiào | to get broken; to get damaged; to get ruined | |
| 壞話 | huàihuà | disparaging remarks; unkind things said about sb | |
| 弄壞 | nònghuài | to ruin; to spoil | |
| 累壞 | lèihuài | to become exhausted |
Questions about 壞
How many strokes are in 壞?
壞 is written with 19 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 壞 mean?
壞 (huài) means bad, rotten, spoiled; to break down. A common word with it is 坏人 (huàirén), meaning "bad person; villain".
How do you pronounce 壞?
壞 is pronounced huài, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 壞?
The radical of 壞 is 土, which carries the idea of "soil". Dictionaries list 壞 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 壞?
壞 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 坏, used in mainland China and Singapore.
How do I say something is broken or spoiled with 壞?
Put 壞了 after the noun, as in 電腦壞了 (diànnǎo huài le, the computer broke) or 牛奶壞了 (niúnǎi huài le, the milk went bad). The 了 shows the change has already happened.
What does 壞 mean after words like 餓 or 嚇?
Here it works as an intensifier meaning "extremely". 餓壞了 (è huài le) means starving and 嚇壞了 (xià huài le) means scared to death. This use is very common in everyday speech.