惨 (cǎn): miserable, wretched, cruel
惨 (cǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “miserable.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 忄 (semantic) and 参 (phonetic). It ranks #1520 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 惨 heart. Its radical form 忄 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忙 (máng, busy), 快 (kuài, fast, happy), 怎 (zěn, how).
Definitions
- miserable
- wretched
- cruel
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 惨 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 悲惨 | bēi cǎn | miserable |
| 惨剧 | cǎn jù | tragedy |
| 惨重 | cǎn zhòng | disastrous |
| 惨遭 | cǎn zāo | to suffer (defeat, death etc) |
| 惨叫 | cǎn jiào | to scream |
| 惨不忍睹 | cǎn bù rěn dǔ | lit. so horrible that one cannot bear to look (idiom) |
| 惨败 | cǎn bài | to suffer a crushing defeat |
| 惨痛 | cǎn tòng | bitter |
| 惨死 | cǎn sǐ | to die tragically |
| 凄惨 | qī cǎn | plaintive |
| 惨案 | cǎn àn | massacre |
| 惨烈 | cǎn liè | bitter |
| 惨无人道 | cǎn wú rén dào | inhuman (idiom) |
| 惨绝人寰 | cǎn jué rén huán | extremely tragic (idiom) |
| 惨淡 | cǎn dàn | dark |
惨 appears in 39 compound words: 85 as the first character, 5 as the last, and 10 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 惨 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
Les Misérables (1862) by Victor Hugo 維克多·雨果|维克多·雨果[Wei2 ke4 duo1 · Yu3 guo3]
Les Misérables (1862) by Victor Hugo 維克多·雨果|维克多·雨果[Wei2 ke4 duo1 · Yu3 guo3]
Example Sentences
看到孩子的进步，父母惨中十分欣慰。
kàn dào hái zǐ de jìn bù , fù mǔ cǎn zhōng shí fēn xīn wèi .
Seeing their child's progress, the parents were deeply gratified.
川普有意对伊朗动手,惨遭美军最高将领泼冷水:“报告总统,我们的...
chuān pǔ yǒu yì duì yī lǎng dòng shǒu , cǎn zāo měi jūn zuì gāo jiāng lǐng pō lěng shuǐ : bào gào zǒng tǒng , wǒ men de . . .
Trump intended to take action against Iran and was poured cold water on the top general of the US military: "Report to the President, our...
...西哥毒枭密会情妇曝行踪 躲灌木丛驳火中枪惨死
. . . xī gē dú 枭 mì huì qíng fù pù háng zōng duǒ guàn mù cóng bó huǒ zhōng qiāng cǎn sǐ
... The Visigothic drug lord's secret meeting mistress revealed her whereabouts and was shot and died tragically while hiding in the bushes
仙气调酒喝下肚小心胃穿孔 警:最惨丧命
xiān qì diào jiǔ hē xià dù xiǎo xīn wèi chuān kǒng jǐng : zuì cǎn sāng mìng
Fairy cocktail drink, be careful of stomach perforation Police: The most tragic death
最惨开工日!今年首波水逆来了 命理师示警:恐...
zuì cǎn kāi gōng rì ! jīn nián shǒu bō shuǐ nì lái le mìng lǐ shī shì jǐng : kǒng . . .
The worst start day! The first wave of water retrograde this year is coming, and the numerologist warns: fear...
...强迫堕胎样样来 联合国痛批东南亚诈骗园区惨绝人寰
. . . qiáng pò duò tāi yàng yàng lái lián gě guó tòng pī dōng nán yà zhà piàn yuán qū cǎn jué rén 寰
... Forced abortion is coming in all kinds of ways, and the United Nations criticizes the Southeast Asian fraud park as horrible
这个故事有一个悲惨的结局。
Zhège gùshi yǒu yī gè bēicǎn de jiéjú.
This story has a sad ending.
这种人注定惨败。
Zhèzhǒng rén zhùdìng cǎnbài.
Such a man is bound to fail.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 惨 (cǎn) mean in Chinese?
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What are common words containing 惨?
What characters sound the same as 惨 (cǎn)?
Is 惨 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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