坏 (huài) means "bad" with HSK 2 on the new exam.
Pronunciation
Meaning
Primary: bad
Etymology
Oracle-bone origin
坏 has no oracle-bone ancestor in its modern meaning. In traditional script 'bad' is written 壞, a phono-semantic compound of 土 (earth) and 褱 (phonetic), originally meaning 'to collapse / ruin' as of an earthen wall. The simplified 坏 reuses an older, unrelated character that meant 'unfired clay brick' (土 + 不 phonetic), merging two distinct graphs into one form.
Form evolution
The traditional 壞 appears clearly in seal script with 土 on the left and the complex 褱 on the right, preserved through clerical and 楷书. The simplified 坏 existed historically as a separate character pronounced pēi, meaning unbaked pottery. In 1956 the PRC reassigned 坏 to carry the meaning of 壞, exploiting the simpler shape and the phonetic hint from 不.
How the meaning evolved
The original 壞 meant physical collapse or destruction, extended to spoilage (food going bad) and to moral badness (a bad person, 坏人). Modern Mandarin uses 坏 across all these senses plus the resultative use 'to break / ruin' (弄坏 break something) and the adverbial 'extremely' in some colloquial patterns (气坏了 furious). The original 'unfired brick' meaning is now archaic.
Cultural note
The merger of 壞 and 坏 is a textbook case of simplification controversy: critics argue it destroys the semantic transparency of 褱 as phonetic, while supporters point out that 不 in 坏 gives a useful negative hint. When reading classical or Taiwan texts, assume 坏 means unfired brick and 壞 means bad.
Basic info
| Pinyin | huài |
| Meanings | bad |
| New HSK exam | Recognise at HSK 2 |
| Frequency | #805 most common |
Example sentences
Words containing 坏
On the new HSK 2 exam
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Frequently Asked Questions
Reviewed by RJ Murray, Founder, HSK Lord.