禍 meaning and stroke order
Misfortune, disaster, calamity
How to write 禍, stroke by stroke
13 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 禍
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- disaster
- misfortune
- calamity
How 禍 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Spirit.
礻 gives the meaning and 咼 hints at the sound.
Radical: 礻 (spirit), shared by 43 characters on this site.
How to remember 禍
禍 combines 礻 (spirit, altar) with 咼 (guō), which hints at the sound. Picture the spirits at the altar sending down misfortune, and 咼 telling you it sounds a bit like huò.
禍 is the traditional form; mainland China writes it 祸, which is what you see in the word list. It rarely stands alone and usually appears in compounds like 车祸 (chēhuò) and 闯祸 (chuǎnghuò). Example: 他又闯祸了。(Tā yòu chuǎnghuò le.) He got into trouble again.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 禍 (huò, misfortune) with 福 (fú, good fortune), since both have the 礻 spirit side and opposite meanings. Also, 咼 is written 呙 in simplified 祸, so do not mix the two component forms in one character.
Common words with 禍
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 車禍 | chēhuò | traffic accident; car crash | HSK 7-9 |
| 罪魁禍首 | zuìkuí-huòshǒu | (idiom) criminal ringleader; main offender; main culprit; main cause of a disaster | HSK 7-9 |
| 禍害 | huòhai | disaster; harm | HSK 7-9 |
| 闖禍 | chuǎnghuò | to cause an accident; to make trouble; to get into trouble | |
| 嫁禍 | jiàhuò | to impute; to shift the blame onto someone else | |
| 幸災樂禍 | xìngzāilèhuò | (idiom) to take pleasure in another's misfortune | |
| 災禍 | zāihuò | disaster | |
| 大禍 | dàhuò | disaster; calamity | |
| 惹禍 | rěhuò | to stir up trouble; to invite disaster |
Questions about 禍
How many strokes are in 禍?
禍 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 禍 mean?
禍 (huò) means misfortune, disaster, calamity. A common word with it is 车祸 (chēhuò), meaning "traffic accident; car crash".
How do you pronounce 禍?
禍 is pronounced huò, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 禍?
The radical of 禍 is 礻, which carries the idea of "spirit". Dictionaries list 禍 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 禍?
禍 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 祸, used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 祸 (huò) and 灾 (zāi)?
灾 (zāi) leans toward natural disasters like floods or famine. 祸 (huò) leans toward misfortune caused by people or bad luck, such as accidents or trouble. Together they form 灾祸 (zāihuò), a general word for disaster.
What does 幸灾乐祸 mean and how is it used?
幸灾乐祸 (xìngzāilèhuò) means to take pleasure in someone else's misfortune, similar to schadenfreude. It is critical in tone, as in 别幸灾乐祸 (bié xìngzāilèhuò), don't gloat over others' bad luck.