zāi
noun HSK 5 #10,196

Meanings

  1. 1 disaster; calamity
  2. 2 misfortune; adversity

Examples

Tiānzāi rénhuò shì bù kě bìmiǎn de.
Natural and man-made disasters are unavoidable.
Zhè chǎng zāinàn ràng hěn duō rén shīqù le jiāyuán.
This disaster caused many people to lose their homes.
Yùdào zāihài yào bǎochí lěngjìng.
Stay calm when encountering a disaster.

Tips

usage
rarely stands alone in modern Chinese — it usually combines into compounds: 灾难 (disaster), 灾害 (calamity), 火灾 (fire), 水灾 (flood), (natural disaster).
culture
The traditional form shows fire () under a roof () — fire in the house is the original image of disaster.

Stroke Order

zāi