祸 (huò): disaster, misfortune, calamity
祸 (huò) is a Chinese character meaning “disaster.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 礻 (semantic) and 呙 (phonetic). It ranks #1851 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 祸 spirit. Its radical form 礻 (spirit) appears in many related characters such as 票 (piào, ticket), 视 (shì, (literary, or bound form) to look at), 示 (shì, to show).
Definitions
- disaster
- misfortune
- calamity
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 祸 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 祸
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 幸灾乐祸phrase | xìng zāi lè huò | lit. to take joy in calamity and delight in disaster (idiom) |
| 罪魁祸首phrase | zuì kuí huò shǒu | (idiom) criminal ringleader |
| 祸害noun | huò hài | disaster |
| 大祸noun | dà huò | disaster |
| 惹祸verb | rě huò | to stir up trouble |
| 闯祸verb | chuǎng huò | to cause an accident |
| 灾祸noun | zāi huò | disaster |
| 杀身之祸phrase | shā shēn zhī huò | (idiom) getting killed |
| 祸水noun | huò shuǐ | source of calamity (esp. of women) |
| 祸根noun | huò gēn | root of the trouble |
| 祸不单行phrase | huò bù dān xíng | misfortune does not come singly (idiom) |
| 祸事noun | huò shì | disaster |
| 横祸noun | hèng huò | unexpected calamity |
| 天灾人祸phrase | tiān zāi rén huò | natural calamities and man-made disasters (idiom) |
| 嫁祸于人phrase | jià huò yú rén | to pass the misfortune on to sb else (idiom) |
祸 appears in 51 compound words: 35 as the first character, 43 as the last, and 22 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 祸 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (20)
facing imminent catastrophe; calamity looms; all hell will break loose
disaster and happiness do not follow rules (idiom); future blessings and misfortunes are unpredictable
facing imminent catastrophe; calamity looms; all hell will break loose
disaster and happiness do not follow rules (idiom); future blessings and misfortunes are unpredictable
Showing 12 of 20 idioms containing 祸.
Example Sentences
学习祸字需要反复练习，才能写得工整。
xué xí huò zì xū yāo fǎn fù liàn xí , cái néng xiě dé gōng zhěng .
Mastering the character "祸" requires repeated practice to write it neatly.
婆罗洲会展中心外严重车祸 两罗厘猛撞2人重伤
pó luó zhōu huì zhǎn zhōng xīn wài yán chóng chē huò liǎng luó lí měng zhuàng 2 rén chóng shāng
A serious car accident outside the Borneo Convention and Exhibition Center Two Luoli slammed into two people and seriously injured them
年后猪价重挫非美猪惹祸?养猪协会:与进口猪有关
nián hòu zhū jià chóng cuò fēi měi zhū rě huò ? yǎng zhū xié huì : yǔ jìn kǒu zhū yǒu guān
After the year, pig prices plummeted, and non-American pigs caused trouble? Pig Breeding Association: Related to imported pigs
快讯/国3龙井段惊险车祸!宾士男猛撞缓撞车 “车头全烂”酿1伤
kuài xùn guó 3 lóng jǐng duàn jīng xiǎn chē huò ! bīn shì nán měng zhuàng huǎn zhuàng chē chē tóu quán làn niàng 1 shāng
News/National 3 Longjing section thrilling car accident! The Mercedes-Benz man slammed into the car and crashed slowly, and the front of the car was completely rotten, causing 1 injury
...童命丧花莲鲤鱼潭!家属控快艇“船尾浪”酿祸 交通部回应了
. . . tóng mìng sāng huā lián lǐ yú tán ! jiā shǔ kòng kuài tǐng chuán wěi làng niàng huò jiāo tōng bù huí yīng le
... Children lost their lives in Hualien Carp Pond! The family controlled the speedboat's "stern waves" to cause trouble, and the Ministry of Communications responded
...以燎原!永康营业场所角落起火 乱丢菸蒂惹祸
. . . yǐ 燎 yuán ! yǒng kāng yíng yè chǎng suǒ jiǎo luò qǐ huǒ luàn diū 菸 dì rě huò
... To burn the plains! A fire broke out in the corner of Yongkang's business premises, and littering cigarette butts caused trouble
车祸是怎么发生的？
Chēhuò shì zěnme fāshēng de?
How did the car accident come about?
我弟弟在车祸中受了伤。
Wǒ dìdi zài chēhuò zhōng shòu le shāng.
My brother was injured in the car accident.
喝醉的驾驶员对车祸有责任。
Hēzuì de jiàshǐyuán duì chēhuò yǒuzérèn.
A drunk driver was responsible for the car accident.
在光滑的路上开车会导致车祸。
Zài guānghuá de lùshang kāichē huì dǎozhì chēhuò.
Driving on a slippery road can lead to a car wreck.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 祸 (huò) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 祸 and 窝?
How many strokes does 祸 have?
What is the radical of 祸?
What are the components of 祸?
What are common words containing 祸?
What characters sound the same as 祸 (huò)?
Is 祸 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 祸 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.