糟糕

zāogāo

adjective/interjection HSK 5 #625

Meanings

Like a cake gone bad — something that's turned out terribly.

Zāogāo! Wǒ chídào le!

Oh no! I'm late!

Kǎoshì chéngjì zāogāo tòu le.

The exam results were absolutely terrible.

Qíngkuàng biàn de yuè lái yuè zāogāo.

The situation is getting worse and worse.

Tā de xīnqíng hěn zāogāo.

He's in a terrible mood.

usage

糟糕 is one of the most common Chinese exclamations. It's milder than cursing — appropriate in any situation, like saying 'oh no!' in English.

usage

Intensifiers: 糟糕透了 (absolutely terrible), 太糟糕了 (too terrible). Synonym: 糟 alone works the same way but is shorter.

糟 zāo

糕 gāo