乌七八糟

烏七八糟
wūqī-bāzāo
idiom #33,822

Meanings

  1. 1 in a hideous mess
  2. 2 everything in disorder
  3. 3 filthy
  4. 4 obscene

Examples

HSK 1
Wǎngshàng yǒu hěnduō wūqī-bāzāo de dōngxi, háizi yào shǎo kàn.
There's a lot of filthy junk online. Kids shouldn't see too much of it.
HSK 4
Tā de fángjiān wūqī-bāzāo, lián xiàjiǎo de dìfang dōu méiyǒu.
His room is a complete mess. There's nowhere even to step.

Tips

usage
Used both for literal physical mess and for morally dirty/obscene content. A close cousin of 乱七八糟 - same '七八' chaos pattern, but (black/dark) adds a sleazy or filthy connotation that (chaotic) lacks.
memory
Think 'a black 七八 (7-8) mess' - and in Chinese idioms often signal 'all over the place' (cf. 七上八下七嘴八舌). Add (black/dirty) and you get the grimy version of chaos.

Stroke Order

zāo