Chinese word

破坏

Pronunciation

Pinyinpò huài

Meaning

  • verbbreak

Example

不要破坏别人的东西。bú yào pò huài bié rén de dōng xī

Do not break other people's things.

Illustration for 破坏 (break)

More examples

工厂的污染会破坏环境。gōng chǎng de wū rǎn huì pò huài huán jìng

Factory pollution will damage the environment.

Core concept

A force or action breaks the structure that lets something remain intact, useful, or stable.

Common phrases

  • 破坏环境pò huài huán jìng

    damage the environment

  • 破坏规则pò huài guī zé

    break the rules

Similar words

弄坏nòng huài: Making a physical object unusable by handling it carelessly.
损坏sǔn huài: Causing physical damage that makes an object or machine work poorly or stop working.

Definition in Chinese

使事物或状态遭到损坏、失去原有功能或完整性，可指具体物品被弄坏，也可指关系、制度等被破坏。shǐ shì wù huò zhuàng tài zāo dào sǔn huài shī qù yuán yǒu gōng néng huò wán zhěng xìng kě zhǐ jù tǐ wù pǐn bèi nòng huài yě kě zhǐ guān xì zhì dù děng bèi pò huài

Word origin

The compound joins 破 (pò, "break") with 坏 (huài, "bad") to portray something being made bad by being broken, which extends naturally from objects to systems and relationships.

Usage tips

  • The cause can be a person, an action, or a policy, so the verb fits both deliberate acts and harmful consequences, with context showing whether blame is intended.

Other meanings

  • damageverb
  • ruinverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word