Chinese word

破灭

Pronunciation

Pinyinpò miè

Meaning

  • verbruin

Example

战争使很多家庭的生活破灭了。zhàn zhēng shǐ hěn duō jiā tíng de shēng huó pò miè le

The war ruined many families' lives.

Illustration for 破灭 (ruin)

More examples

失业后，他的前途也破灭了。shī yè hòu tā de qián tú yě pò miè le

After losing his job, his prospects were ruined too.

Core concept

Something is destroyed or ended so completely that no path back to its former state remains.

Common phrases

  • 梦想破灭mèng xiǎng pò miè

    dreams shattered

  • 幻想破灭huàn xiǎng pò miè

    illusions shattered

  • 前途破灭qián tú pò miè

    prospects ruined

Similar words

毁灭huǐ miè: Cause a person, place, or thing to be completely destroyed and cease to exist.
崩溃bēng kuì: Fall apart suddenly, with a structure, organization, or mental state losing stability or function.
灭亡miè wáng: Be destroyed and disappear completely, especially as a country, people, or living species.
失败shī bài: Fail to produce the intended result, especially for a plan, effort, or attempt.

Definition in Chinese

表示事物或抽象目标遭到根本性毁灭或终止，含不可挽回的意味。biǎo shì shì wù huò chōu xiàng mù biāo zāo dào gēn běn xìng huǐ miè huò zhōng zhǐ hán bù kě wǎn huí de yì wèi

Word origin

The compound combines 破 (pò, "break") with 灭 (miè, "extinguish"), presenting a thing as broken apart and then put out completely.

Usage tips

  • In everyday Chinese, it usually describes a hope, plan, or future that is treated as beyond repair, so applying it to a small inconvenience sounds too dramatic.

Other meanings

  • collapseverb
  • shatterverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 破灭感pò miè gǎnsense of disillusionmentnoun

Word lists with this word