Dictionary › 灾

灾

zāi

HSK 5 Character Traditional 災

What 灾 means

1. disaster; calamity

Other readings

灾 is 多音字 — it is read more than one way, and the reading changes the meaning.

• zāivariant of {灾|zāi}
• zāiold variant of {灾|zāi}

Example sentences

• 那是灾难。
  That was a disaster.
• 这是环境灾害。
  It's an environmental disaster.
• 火灾的原因不明。
  Huǒzāi de yuányīn bù míng.
  The cause of the fire was unknown.
• 地震带来了灾难。
  The earthquake brought about disaster.
• 前天发生了火灾。
  A fire broke out the day before yesterday.
• 在夜间发生了火灾。
  Zài yèjiān fāshēng le huǒzāi.
  A fire broke out during the night.

Words starting with 灾

• 灾害zāi hàicalamity; disaster
• 灾难zāi nàndisaster; catastrophe
• 灾区zāi qūdisaster area; stricken region
• 灾民zāi mínvictim (of a disaster)
• 灾祸zāi huòdisaster
• 灾情zāi qíngdisastrous situation; calamity
• 灾难性zāi nàn xìngcatastrophic
• 灾场zāi chǎngdisaster area; scene of accident
• 灾年zāi niándisaster year; (esp.) year of poor harvest
• 灾后zāi hòuafter a catastrophe; post-traumatic
• 灾星zāi xīngcomet or supernova viewed as evil portent; (fig.) sb or sth that brings disaster
• 灾变zāi biàncatastrophe; cataclysmic change
• 灾害链zāi hài liànseries of calamities; disaster following on disaster
• 灾变说zāi biàn shuōcatastrophism…
• 灾变论zāi biàn lùncatastrophism; the theory that geological change is caused by catastrophic events such as…
• 灾难片zāi nàn piàndisaster movie
• 灾厄zāi èadversity; catastrophe; disaster
• 灾荒zāi huāngnatural disaster; famine
• 灾殃zāi yāngdisaster

Words containing 灾

• 火灾huǒ zāiserious fire (in a city or a forest etc)
• 幸灾乐祸xìng zāi lè huòlit. to take joy in calamity and delight in disaster (idiom)…
• 救灾jiù zāito relieve disaster; to help disaster victims
• 自然灾害zì rán zāi hàinatural disaster
• 受灾shòu zāidisaster-stricken; to be hit by a natural calamity
• 水灾shuǐ zāiflood; flood damage
• 天灾tiān zāinatural disaster
• 成灾chéng zāidisastrous; to turn into a disaster
• 天灾人祸tiān zāi rén huònatural calamities and man-made disasters (idiom)
• 消灾xiāo zāito avoid calamities
• 赈灾zhèn zāidisaster relief
• 灭顶之灾miè dǐng zhī zāi(idiom) catastrophic disaster; devastating calamity
• 洪灾hóng zāiflood
• 重灾区zhòng zāi qūarea particularly hard-hit by a disaster; disaster area
• 多灾多难duō zāi duō nànto be plagued with misfortunes; precarious
• 泛滥成灾fàn làn chéng zāilit. to flood (idiom); fig. rampant; in plague proportions
• 大灾dà zāicalamity; catastrophe
• 减灾jiǎn zāito take measures to mitigate the impact of disasters…
• 股灾gǔ zāistock market crash
• 重灾zhòng zāisevere disaster
• 防灾fáng zāidisaster prevention; to protect against natural disasters
• 风灾fēng zāidamaging storm; destructive typhoon
• 救灾款jiù zāi kuǎndisaster relief funds
• 受灾地区shòu zāi dì qūdisaster area

Characters built on 宀

These share the phonetic component 宀 (mián), which is why their readings rhyme. Learning them as a family is far cheaper than learning them one at a time.

• 害hàito do harm to; to cause trouble to; harm
• 赛sàito compete; competition; match
• 寨zhàistronghold; stockade; camp
• 宅zháiresidence; (colloquial) to stay in at home; to hang around at home
• 宰zǎito slaughter; to butcher; to kill (animals etc); (colloquial) to fleece; to rip off…

Characters that look like 灾

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 实shíreal; true; honest
• 空kōngempty; air; sky
• 变biànto change; to become different; to transform
• 宜yíproper; should; suitable
• 尖jiānpointed; tapering; sharp; (of a sound) shrill; piercing…
• 宠chǒngto love; to pamper; to spoil

Sounds the same

Read zāi, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 栽to plant; to grow; to insert; to erect (e.g. a bus stop sign); to impose sth on sb
• 哉(exclamatory or interrogative particle)
• 甾steroid nucleus