霸 (bà): tyrant
霸 (bà) is a Chinese character meaning “tyrant.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 雨 (semantic), 革 (structural) and 月 (structural). It ranks #1821 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 霸 rain. Its radical form 雨 (rain) appears in many related characters such as 雨 (yǔ, rain), 零 (líng, zero), 雪 (xuě, snow).
Definitions
- tyrant
Etymology & Origin
pictophoneticrain
Decomposition: ⿱雨⿰革月 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 霸 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 争霸verb | zhēng bà | to contend for hegemony |
| 霸王noun | bà wáng | hegemon |
| 霸占verb | bà zhàn | to occupy by force |
| 称霸verb | chēng bà | lit. to proclaim oneself hegemon |
| 霸道noun | bà dào | the Way of the Hegemon |
| 巨无霸proper-noun | jù wú bà | giant |
| 恶霸noun | è bà | evil tyrant |
| 霸主noun | bà zhǔ | a powerful chief of the princes of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) |
| 霸权noun | bà quán | hegemony |
| 横行霸道phrase | héng xíng bà dào | to oppress |
| 霸气adjective | bà qì | imperious |
| 欺行霸市phrase | qī háng bà shì | (idiom) to dominate the market through unfair, coercive or monopolistic practices |
| 独霸verb | dú bà | to dominate (a market etc) |
| 独霸一方 | dú bà yī fāng | to exercise sole hegemony (idiom) |
| 霸权主义noun | bà quán zhǔ yì | hegemonism |
霸 appears in 53 compound words: 45 as the first character, 36 as the last, and 19 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 霸 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
to exercise sole hegemony (idiom); to dominate a whole area (market, resources etc); to hold as one's personal fiefdom
to exercise sole hegemony (idiom); to dominate a whole area (market, resources etc); to hold as one's personal fiefdom
Showing 4 of 6 idioms containing 霸.
Example Sentences
他在行业里称霸多年，是公认的领军人物。
Tā zài hángyè lǐ chēngbà duō nián, shì gōngrèn de lǐngjūn rénwù.
He has dominated the industry for many years and is a recognized leader.
鹿港老街「年破2200萬人次」稱霸全台!網揭3大魅力:每年必去
lù gǎng lǎo jiē nián pò 萬 rén cì 稱 bà quán tái ! 網 jiē dà mèi lì měi nián bì qù
Lukang Old Street "Breaks 22 Million Visitors Annually," Dominating Taiwan! Netizens Reveal 3 Major Charms: A Must-Visit Every Year
速霸陸小改款Solterra台灣送測曝!傳導...
sù bà 陸 xiǎo gǎi kuǎn tái 灣 sòng 測 pù ! 傳 導 . . .
Subaru's facelifted Solterra spotted undergoing testing in Taiwan! Rumored to...
排球精英賽 男拔力阻長天衞冕實現7連霸
pái qiú jīng yīng 賽 nán bá lì zǔ 長 tiān 衞 冕 實 現 連 bà
Men's volleyball team stops Changtian to defend its title in the elite volleyball tournament.
“超级皖”美食争霸赛总决赛收官 豆腐发源地淮南夺冠
chāo jí 皖 měi shí zhēng bà sài zǒng jué sài shōu guān dòu fǔ fā yuán dì huái nán duó guàn
Huainan, the birthplace of bean curd, wins "Super Wan" food competition finals
三星重登全球DRAM霸主
sān xīng chóng dēng quán qiú bà zhǔ
Samsung regains global DRAM supremacy
恶霸恶劣地践踏同学的午餐便当。
èbà èliè de jiàntà tóngxué de wǔcān biàndāng.
The bully stomped on his schoolmate’s lunchbox out of spite.
这场战役让拿破仑称霸了整个欧洲。
Zhè chǎng zhànyì ràng Nápòlún chēngbà le zhěnggè ōuzhōu.
This battle left Napoleon master of Europe.
我们不希望有人在这里吃霸王餐。
Wǒmen bù xīwàng yǒurén zài zhèlǐ chī bàwáng cān.
We don't want any freeloaders around here.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 雨 (rain) component
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 霸 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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