乌烟瘴气

烏煙瘴氣
wūyānzhàngqì
idiom #24,130

Meanings

  1. 1 foul atmosphere
  2. 2 utter chaos and disorder
  3. 3 murky and corrupt environment

Examples

Zhège bùmén guǎnlǐ hǔnluàn, nòng de wūyānzhàngqì.
This department is so poorly managed that it's become utterly chaotic.
Tā yī lái, zhěng gè bàngōngshì dōu biàn de wūyānzhàngqì.
Once he arrived, the whole office descended into chaos.

Tips

memory
(black smoke) + (miasma / toxic air from swamps) — an atmosphere of dark smoke and poisonous swamp gas. Use this idiom to describe any corrupt, chaotic, or toxic environment.

Stroke Order

yān
zhàng