扫帚星

掃帚星
sàozhouxīng
noun #55,513

Meanings

  1. 1 comet
  2. 2 jinx; bringer of bad luck

Examples

HSK 6
Gǔrén kàndào sàozhouxīng, yǐwéi yào fāshēng zāinàn.
When people in ancient times saw a comet, they thought disaster was coming.
HSK 6
Zìcóng tā jià guòlai, jiālǐ shìshì bú shùn, pópo jiù mà tā shì sàozhouxīng.
Ever since she married into the family nothing had gone right, so her mother-in-law called her a jinx.

Tips

culture
A comet's tail looks like a 扫帚 'broom', hence the name. Comets were taken as omens of disaster, so calling someone a 扫帚星 blames them for bad luck. It is a harsh old insult, traditionally thrown at women blamed for a family's misfortune.

Stroke Order

扫 sǎo
帚 zhǒu
星 xīng