How to say “bad” in Chinese
bad, spoiled
“Bad” in Chinese is 糟, zāo: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
糟 is read zāo. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On the left, 米 “rice”: the first meaning is the dregs left after making liquor. On the right, 曹 cáo hints at the reading.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “糟”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 糟. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 糟糕我的手机丢了zāogāo,wǒdeshǒujīdiūleOh no, I've lost my phone!
- 情况变得更糟了qíngkuàngbiàndegèngzāoleThings have gotten even worse.
- 今天的天气糟透了。jīntiāndetiānqìzāotòuleThe weather today couldn't be worse.
- 天气糟透了tiānqìzāotòuleThe weather couldn't be worse!
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Nothing is perfect”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “bad” in Chinese?
“Bad” in Chinese is 糟, pinyin zāo.
What does 糟 mean?
糟 (zāo) means “bad, spoiled”.
How do you write 糟?
糟 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 糟?
糟 is read zāo. Tones: zāo — first tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“bad” in the lesson “Nothing is perfect”
This word is from the topic “The good and the bad” of HSK 5. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free