晦气

晦氣

huìqì

adjective #21,879

Meanings

1 unlucky
2 inauspicious
3 bad luck
4 ominous

Characters

dark; gloomy; unlucky; last day of lunar month

air; energy; spirit; qi

Examples

今天真晦气，什么都不顺。

Jīntiān zhēn huìqì, shénme dōu bù shùn.

What bad luck today — nothing is going right.

他觉得这件事很晦气，不想再提。

Tā juéde zhè jiàn shì hěn huìqì, bù xiǎng zài tí.

He thought this was a bad omen and didn't want to bring it up again.

新年第一天就摔跤，太晦气了。

Xīnnián dì yī tiān jiù shuāijiāo, tài huìqì le.

Falling on the very first day of the new year — that's really bad luck.

Tips

culture

晦气 is rooted in the concept of 晦 — the dark, moonless end of the lunar month, associated with yin energy and bad fortune. Calling something 晦气 expresses both bad luck and a sense of being tainted by misfortune. It's commonly used in everyday speech to vent frustration.

Stroke Order

晦 huì

气 qì