害群之马

害群之馬
hàiqúnzhīmǎ
idiom #24,326

Meanings

  1. 1 black sheep
  2. 2 rotten apple
  3. 3 troublemaker who harms the group
  4. 4 one bad apple

Examples

Tā shì bānjí lǐ de hàiqúnzhīmǎ, zǒngshì yǐngxiǎng biérén xuéxí.
He is the black sheep of the class, always disrupting others' studies.
Gōngsī lǐ de hàiqúnzhīmǎ bìxū bèi qīngchú chūqù.
The rotten apple in the company must be removed.
Yīgè hàiqúnzhīmǎ huì yǐngxiǎng zhěnggè tuánduì de shìqì.
One bad apple can damage the morale of the whole team.

Tips

memory
Literally: a horse that harms the herd. Picture one sick horse spreading disease to a whole stable - the idiom captures how one bad person can corrupt an entire group.
history
This expression originates from the 庄子 (Zhuangzi), the classical Daoist text. The original passage warns that even a single harmful element in a group can destroy the whole.

Stroke Order

hài
qún
zhī