Meaning of 灾害
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- calamity
- disaster
Measure word: 個|个
How to use 灾害
灾害 is a fairly formal noun used in news and official language, often for natural disasters. It commonly appears as 自然灾害 (zìrán zāihài, natural disaster). Example: 这个地区经常发生自然灾害。(Zhège dìqū jīngcháng fāshēng zìrán zāihài.) This area often has natural disasters.
灾 (zāi) shows fire 火 under a roof 宀, a house on fire, which is a classic disaster. Add 害 (hài), harm, and you get 灾害: disaster that causes harm.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 灾害 and 灾难 (zāinàn). 灾害 stresses the harmful event itself, like floods or earthquakes, while 灾难 sounds more emotional and catastrophic and can be used figuratively, as in 这次考试是一场灾难 (this exam was a disaster). Saying 这次考试是一场灾害 sounds wrong.
灾害 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.
灾 zāi · disaster · 7 strokes
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害 hài · to do harm to · 10 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 灾害.
| 害怕 | hàipà | to be afraid; to be scared |
| 危害 | wēihài | to harm; to jeopardize; to endanger; harmful effect; damage |
| 伤害 | shānghài | to injure; to harm |
| 厉害 | lìhai | (used to describe sb or sth that makes a very strong impression, whether favorable or unfa |
| 灾难 | zāinàn | disaster; catastrophe |
| 火灾 | huǒzāi | serious fire (in a city or a forest etc) |
| 损害 | sǔnhài | harm; to damage |
| 有害 | yǒu hài | destructive; harmful |
| 救灾 | jiùzāi | to relieve disaster; to help disaster victims |
| 受灾 | shòuzāi | disaster-stricken; to be hit by a natural calamity |
| 水灾 | shuǐzāi | flood; flood damage |
| 灾区 | zāiqū | disaster area; stricken region |
Questions about 灾害
What does 灾害 mean?
灾害 (zāihài) means "calamity; disaster" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 灾害?
灾害 is made of 2 characters: 灾 (7 strokes), 害 (10 strokes). That is 17 strokes in total.
Is 灾害 an HSK word?
Yes. 灾害 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 灾害 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 灾害 is written 災害.
What verb usually goes with 灾害?
The most common verb is 发生 (fāshēng, to occur), as in 发生灾害. You will also see 遭受灾害 (zāoshòu zāihài, to suffer a disaster) and 防止灾害 (fángzhǐ zāihài, to prevent disasters).
Can I use 灾害 for a personal bad day or small problem?
No. 灾害 is for large-scale events that affect many people, such as droughts, typhoons, or earthquakes. For a personal mess, people say 灾难 jokingly or use 倒霉 (dǎoméi, unlucky).