Chinese word

倒霉

Pronunciation

Pinyindǎo méi

Meaning

  • adjectiveunlucky

Example

我最近老是倒霉，什么事都不顺。wǒ zuì jìn lǎo shì dǎo méi shén me shì dōu bú shùn

I've been unlucky lately; nothing is going right.

Illustration for 倒霉 (unlucky)

More examples

他最近接二连三遇到倒霉事，心情很糟。tā zuì jìn jiē èr lián sān yù dào dǎo méi shì xīn qíng hěn zāo

He has encountered one unlucky event after another lately, and he feels terrible.

Core concept

Bad fortune seems to follow someone from one setback to the next.

Common phrases

  • 倒霉透顶dǎo méi tòu dǐng

    extremely unlucky

  • 接二连三遇到倒霉事jiē èr lián sān yù dào dǎo méi shì

    encounter one unlucky event after another

  • 遭遇倒霉事zāo yù dǎo méi shì

    encounter an unlucky event

Similar words

不走运bù zǒu yùn: Unlucky when circumstances keep stopping things from going as hoped.
运气不好yùn qì bù hǎo: Having poor luck when chance causes expected results to fail.
倒楣dào méi: Experiencing a run of unfortunate events that leaves someone feeling upset.

Definition in Chinese

遭遇不幸或连续的不顺，表示运气不好。zāo yù bú xìng huò lián xù de bú shùn biǎo shì yùn qì bù hǎo

Word origin

倒霉 (dǎoméi, "unlucky") is an established colloquial word for meeting bad luck or repeated setbacks; its modern meaning is not safely inferred from the characters alone.

Usage tips

  • The word is an everyday spoken expression that fits complaints about small mishaps as well as longer stretches of trouble without sounding formal.

Other meanings

  • bad lucknoun

Opposites

Related words

  • 倒霉鬼dǎo méi guǐunlucky personnoun

Word lists with this word