怪圈

guàiquān

noun #26,449

Measure Word

一个怪圈 gè

Meanings

1 vicious circle
2 strange cycle
3 abnormal pattern or phenomenon

Characters

strange; odd; weird

circle; ring; loop

Examples

他们陷入了一个怪圈，越努力越糟糕。

Tāmen xiànrùle yī gè guàiquān, yuè nǔlì yuè zāogāo.

They fell into a vicious circle — the harder they tried, the worse it got.

贫困和犯罪往往形成一个怪圈。

Pínkùn hé fànzuì wǎngwǎng xíngchéng yī gè guàiquān.

Poverty and crime often form a vicious cycle.

我们必须打破这个怪圈。

Wǒmen bìxū dǎpò zhège guàiquān.

We must break out of this vicious circle.

Tips

usage

怪圈 can refer both to a vicious cycle (a repeating harmful pattern) and more literally to a strange circular phenomenon. 恶性循环 is the more formal term for vicious circle.

Stroke Order

怪 guài

圈 quān