遭遇 meaning in English
to meet with; to encounter (esp. misfortune or hardship); an experience (esp. adverse)
Meaning of 遭遇
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to meet with; to encounter (esp. misfortune or hardship)
- an experience (esp. adverse)
How to use 遭遇
遭遇 works as a verb meaning to run into something bad, such as difficulties, accidents, or attacks. It also works as a noun meaning a bad experience someone has gone through. Example: 他们在路上遭遇了暴风雨。(Tāmen zài lù shang zāoyù le bàofēngyǔ.) They ran into a storm on the way.
Both 遭 (zāo) and 遇 (yù) carry the walking radical 辶, so picture yourself walking down a road and running straight into something. Since 遭 usually signals bad luck, think of it as walking into trouble.
Common mistake: Learners use 遭遇 for neutral or happy encounters, as in 遭遇老朋友 for meeting an old friend. That sounds wrong. Use 遇到 (yùdào) or 遇见 (yùjiàn) for ordinary meetings and keep 遭遇 for misfortune.
遭遇 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.
遭 zāo · to meet · 14 strokes
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遇 yù · to encounter · 12 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 遭遇.
| 遇到 | yùdào | to meet; to run into; to come across |
| 遇见 | yùjiàn | to meet |
| 待遇 | dàiyù | treatment; pay |
| 机遇 | jīyù | opportunity; favorable turn of events; stroke of luck |
| 遭到 | zāodào | to suffer; to meet with (sth unfortunate) |
| 遭受 | zāoshòu | to suffer; to sustain (loss, misfortune) |
| 遇上 | yùshang | to come across (sb); to run into |
| 相遇 | xiāngyù | to meet; to encounter |
| 遭殃 | zāoyāng | to suffer a calamity |
| 遇难 | yùnàn | to perish; to be killed |
| 境遇 | jìngyù | circumstance |
| 遇险 | yùxiǎn | to get into difficulties; to meet with danger |
Questions about 遭遇
What does 遭遇 mean?
遭遇 (zāoyù) means "to meet with; to encounter (esp. misfortune or hardship); an experience (esp. adverse)" and is used as a verb and noun.
How do you write 遭遇?
遭遇 is made of 2 characters: 遭 (14 strokes), 遇 (12 strokes). That is 26 strokes in total.
Is 遭遇 an HSK word?
Yes. 遭遇 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 遭遇 and 遭到?
遭到 (zāodào) is only a verb. It is often followed by actions done to you, like 遭到批评 (to be criticized) or 遭到拒绝 (to be rejected). 遭遇 can also be a noun, and as a verb it usually takes events or situations, like 遭遇困难 (to run into difficulties).
How do I use 遭遇 as a noun?
As a noun it means someone's unfortunate experience, and it often appears with words like 不幸 or 悲惨. For example, 大家都很同情她的遭遇 (Dàjiā dōu hěn tóngqíng tā de zāoyù) means everyone sympathizes with what she went through.