倒霉

dǎoméi

adjective HSK 7 #2,885

Meanings

1 unlucky
2 to have bad luck
3 unfortunate

Characters

Examples

今天真倒霉，手机掉水里了。

Jīntiān zhēn dǎoméi, shǒujī diào shuǐ lǐ le.

Really unlucky today — my phone fell in the water.

谁让你那么倒霉呢？

Shéi ràng nǐ nàme dǎoméi ne?

Who made you so unlucky?

Tips

history

Originally written 倒楣. 楣 was the lintel above a door — when a family failed the imperial exam, their door lintel would be taken down (倒), symbolizing lost fortune.

Stroke Order

倒 dào

霉 méi