灾 (zāi): disaster, calamity
灾 (zāi) is a Chinese character meaning “disaster.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 宀 (structural) and 火 (structural). It ranks #1341 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 灾 a house 宀 on fire 火. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 火 (huǒ, fire), 灯 (dēng, lamp, light), 烟 (yān, smoke).
Definitions
- disaster
- calamity
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA house 宀 on fire 火
Decomposition: ⿱宀火 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 灾 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 灾
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 灾难noun | zāi nàn | disaster | 6 |
| 火灾noun | huǒ zāi | serious fire (in a city or a forest etc) | 6 |
| 灾害noun | zāi hài | calamity | 6 |
| 灾区noun | zāi qū | disaster area | 6 |
| 受灾verb | shòu zāi | disaster-stricken | 6 |
| 旱灾noun | hàn zāi | drought | 6 |
| 救灾verb | jiù zāi | to relieve disaster | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 幸灾乐祸 | xìng zāi lè huò | lit. to take joy in calamity and delight in disaster (idiom) |
| 自然灾害 | zì rán zāi hài | natural disaster |
| 灾祸 | zāi huò | disaster |
| 灭顶之灾 | miè dǐng zhī zāi | (idiom) catastrophic disaster |
| 水灾 | shuǐ zāi | flood |
| 天灾 | tiān zāi | natural disaster |
| 灾星 | zāi xīng | comet or supernova viewed as evil portent |
| 防灾 | fáng zāi | disaster prevention |
| 多灾多难 | duō zāi duō nàn | to be plagued with misfortunes |
| 成灾 | chéng zāi | disastrous |
| 虫灾 | chóng zāi | insect damage |
| 灾民 | zāi mín | victim (of a disaster) |
| 泛滥成灾 | fàn làn chéng zāi | lit. to flood (idiom) |
| 天灾人祸 | tiān zāi rén huò | natural calamities and man-made disasters (idiom) |
| 洪灾 | hóng zāi | flood |
灾 appears in 65 compound words: 29 as the first character, 48 as the last, and 23 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 灾 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (13)
Showing 12 of 13 idioms containing 灾.
Example Sentences
蜡烛的灾苗在微风中轻轻摇曳。
là zhú de zāi miáo zài wēi fēng zhōng qīng qīng yáo 曳 .
The flickering flame of the candle swayed gently in the breeze.
...”3大凶相夹击!命理师示警:恐有震荡流血灾难
. . . 3 dà xiōng xiāng jiā jī ! mìng lǐ shī shì jǐng : kǒng yǒu zhèn dàng liú xiě zāi nán
"The three villains attack each other! Numerologists warn: There may be shocks and bloodshed disasters
嘉义水上灯区“奔腾”主灯点亮 象征灾后重生希望
jiā yì shuǐ shàng dēng qū bēn téng zhǔ dēng diǎn liàng xiàng zhēng zāi hòu chóng shēng xī wàng
The main light of the "Pentium" in the Chiayi Water Lantern District is lit up to symbolize the hope of rebirth after the disaster
纽时示警 矽谷忽视的晶片灾难逼近
niǔ shí shì jǐng 矽 gǔ hū shì de jīng piàn zāi nán bī jìn
The New York Times warns that Silicon Valley's neglected chip disaster is approaching
秘鲁军用直升机救灾任务坠毁 15人全数罹难
mì lǔ jūn yòng zhí shēng jī jiù zāi rèn wù zhuì huǐ 1 5 rén quán shǔ 罹 nán
Peruvian military helicopter crashed on a disaster relief mission, killing all 15 people
...米露糖水!仅5粒芋头+极少西米 网民嘲赈灾粥
. . . mǐ lù táng shuǐ ! jǐn 5 lì 芋 tóu jí shǎo xī mǐ wǎng mín cháo 赈 zāi zhōu
... Milu sugar water! Only 5 grains of taro + very little sago Netizens ridiculed the disaster relief porridge
堤坝保护了城市免受洪灾。
Dībà bǎohù le chéngshì miǎnshòu hóngzāi.
The bank secured the city from a flood.
你听说了昨天的火灾吗?
Nǐ tīngshuō le zuótiān de huǒzāi ma?
Did you hear about the fire yesterday?
万一发生火灾,打碎玻璃并按下红色按钮。
Wànyī fāshēng huǒzāi, dǎsuì bōli bìng ànxià hóngsè ànniǔ.
In case of fire, break the glass and push the red button.
我们必须始终为灾害做好准备。
Wǒmen bìxū shǐzhōng wèi zāihài zuò hǎo zhǔnbèi.
We must always be prepared for disasters.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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