恶 (è): evil, fierce, vicious, ugly, coarse, to harm
恶 (è) is a Chinese character meaning “evil.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亚 (phonetic) and 心 (semantic). It ranks #792 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 恶 heart. Its radical form 忄 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忙 (máng, busy), 快 (kuài, fast, happy), 怎 (zěn, how).
Definitions
- evil
- fierce
- vicious
- ugly
- coarse
- to harm
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 恶 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 恶
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 恶魔 | è mó | demon |
| 邪恶 | xié è | sinister |
| 可恶 | kě wù | repulsive |
| 罪恶 | zuì è | crime |
| 恶梦 | è mèng | nightmare |
| 恶作剧 | è zuò jù | practical joke |
| 厌恶 | yàn wù | to loathe |
| 恶意 | è yì | malice |
| 恶化 | è huà | to worsen |
| 恶棍 | è gùn | scoundrel |
| 恶毒 | è dú | malicious |
| 恶人 | è rén | evil person |
| 憎恶 | zēng è | to hate evil |
| 丑恶 | chǒu è | ugly |
| 恶臭 | è chòu | stink |
恶 appears in 100 compound words: 70 as the first character, 24 as the last, and 6 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 恶 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (26)
lit. ghosts are afraid of evil too; an evil person fears someone even more evil (idiom)
lit. ghosts are afraid of evil too; an evil person fears someone even more evil (idiom)
Showing 12 of 26 idioms containing 恶.
Example Sentences
他恶甘情愿地帮助每一个需要帮助的人。
tā ě gān qíng yuàn dì bāng zhù měi yī gě xū yāo bāng zhù de rén .
He willingly helps everyone in need.
...万!蒋万安怒轰“趁火打劫” 指示局处严查恶霸行为
. . . wàn ! 蒋 wàn ān nù hōng chèn huǒ dǎ jié zhǐ shì jú chǔ yán chá è bà háng wéi
... Ten thousand! Jiang Wan'an angrily bombarded the bureau to "rob while the fire is in the fire" and instructed the bureau to strictly investigate the behavior of bullies
天气恶劣要求换航线!印度医疗专机失联坠毁 机上...
tiān qì è liè yāo qiú huàn háng xiàn ! yìn dù yī liáo zhuān jī shī lián zhuì huǐ jī shàng . . .
Bad weather requires a change of route! Indian medical plane lost contact and crashed on board...
约1.5万人参加:恶劣天气难挡布拉戈维申斯克谢肉节庆典
yuē 1 . 5 wàn rén cān jiā : è liè tiān qì nán dǎng bù lā gē wéi shēn sī kè xiè ròu jié qìng diǎn
About 15,000 people participated: bad weather could not stop the Blagoveshchensk Thanksgiving Meat Day celebration
恶劣!男疑拐浪浪回家 从5楼抛下画面曝
è liè ! nán yí guǎi làng làng huí jiā cóng 5 lóu pāo xià huà miàn pù
Bad! The man was suspected of abducting Langlang home and dropped the picture from the 5th floor to expose
金钱是一切罪恶之源。
Jīnqián shì yīqiè zuì'è zhī yuán.
Money is the root of all evil.
战争是绝对的邪恶。
Zhànzhēng shì juéduì de xié'è.
War is an absolute evil.
罗伯特的健康状况日益恶化。
Luóbótè de jiànkāngzhuàngkuàng rìyì èhuà.
Robert's health deteriorated day by day.
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.
可恶，家的钥匙到底放哪去了?
Kěwù, jiāde yàoshi dàodǐ fàng nǎ qù le?
Shit, where the fuck did I put my home keys?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 恶 (è) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 恶 and 丽?
How many strokes does 恶 have?
What is the radical of 恶?
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What are common words containing 恶?
What characters sound the same as 恶 (è)?
Is 恶 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 恶 with real-time feedback
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