怪 meaning in English
odd; strange; uncanny; (bound form) monster; supernatural being
Meaning of 怪
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- odd; strange; uncanny
- (bound form) monster; supernatural being
- to find strange; to regard as odd
- to blame
- (coll.) somewhat; rather
- variant of 怪[guai4]
How to use 怪
As an adjective 怪 means strange, and in speech it can also mean "rather" before an adjective, as in 怪不好意思的 (guài bù hǎoyìsi de). As a verb it means to blame someone. Example: 这不怪你。(Zhè bú guài nǐ.) This is not your fault.
怪 has the heart radical 忄 on the left, so it is about a feeling. Picture your heart reacting to something on the right side that looks odd, and you get the feeling of "strange" or "to blame."
Common mistake: Learners often use 怪 alone where 奇怪 (qíguài) sounds more natural. 他很奇怪 (He is strange) is the common everyday phrasing. Also keep the fourth tone guài and do not confuse it with 快 (kuài), which shares the 忄 radical but means fast.
怪 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
怪 guài · odd · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 怪.
| 奇怪 | qíguài | strange; odd |
| 怪物 | guàiwu | monster; freak |
| 古怪 | gǔguài | strange; weird |
| 难怪 | nánguài | (it's) no wonder (that...); (it's) not surprising (that) |
| 怪异 | guàiyì | monstrous; strange |
| 责怪 | zéguài | to blame; to rebuke |
| 妖怪 | yāoguài | monster; devil |
| 怪不得 | guàibude | no wonder!; so that's why! |
| 大惊小怪 | dàjīng-xiǎoguài | to make a fuss about nothing (idiom) |
| 怪兽 | guàishòu | rare animal; mythical animal |
| 怪胎 | guàitāi | freak; abnormal embryo |
| 怪人 | guàirén | strange person; eccentric |
Questions about 怪
What does 怪 mean?
怪 (guài) means "odd; strange; uncanny; (bound form) monster; supernatural being" and is used as a adjective, adverb and verb.
How do you write 怪?
怪 is made of 1 character: 怪 (8 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 怪 an HSK word?
Yes. 怪 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 难怪 mean and how do I use it?
难怪 (nánguài) means "no wonder." You say it when something finally makes sense, for example 难怪他累了 (nánguài tā lèi le), no wonder he is tired.
How do I say "don't blame me" in Chinese?
You can say 别怪我 (bié guài wǒ). For a more formal sense of blaming or rebuking, use 责怪 (zéguài).