10

I have seen these three characters forming the "same" words (I cannot think of a better way to phrase this), such as

惡夢 vs 噩夢

and

惡運 vs 噩運 vs 厄運

As I tried googling for the difference, I find different opinions on their meaning/usage – some argue that they are interchangeable; others claim that they are slightly different. Below is what I thought to be the best explanation I have found by far:

噩: 不祥.
厄: 灾难.
恶: 恶劣.

不祥不一定就会发生灾难, 但灾难必定是不祥的, 而这两者都很恶劣.

However, the explanation still sounds rather vague to me. In explicit, how do these characters differ in meaning/usage?

Thanks in advance!

Improve this question
5
  • 1
    jxteacher.com/zhaoxiaoli/column57436/… “恶梦”侧重梦的凶险、不祥，强调梦的内容；“噩梦”侧重梦的惊恐，强调心理感受。如“那场~至今难忘”，用前者为好；“我从~中惊醒”，以后者为宜。
    – Mou某 ♦
    Commented Apr 19, 2015 at 7:30
  • 1
    360doc.com/content/13/0715/09/3918785_300060620.shtml 1、厄运 比较官方的语言 2、噩运 侧重不幸（凄惨）的命运，一般伴随着人的伤亡和疾病 3、恶运 不常用，指坏的运气，不一定是不幸的
    – Mou某 ♦
    Commented Apr 19, 2015 at 7:35
  • 2
    I am a Chinese, but I can't tell the difference.
    – S.C.
    Commented Apr 21, 2015 at 9:23
  • 1
    I'm a Chinese, I use "厄运" because this is the only one in my pinyin input method. and by the way, many questions here let me rethink if i'm really a Chinese.
    – Shiji.J
    Commented Apr 26, 2015 at 3:01
  • 1
    [è] using 爱词霸、小马词典。顺便一提＂汉语水平考试词典＂没有＂噩、厄＂条目，只有＂恶＂ 噩: 1. （形）凶恶惊人的。shocking ； upsetting compounds：噩梦、噩耗、噩运 variant of 厄运 厄: 2. （灾难；困苦） adversity; disaster; hardship 动1. （受困） be in distress; be stranded The fishing boat was caught in a storm. 渔船厄于风暴。 厄widely used for transliterating foreign names e。g。厄立特里亚 恶: <名> （很坏的行为； 犯罪的事情） evil ； vice ； wickedness <形> fierce ； ferocious ； bad ； evil
    – user6065
    Commented Apr 28, 2015 at 13:25

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
5

Did you know? 厄 is a 象形字, a pictogram. It is said that about 4 percent of the characters in the Chinese are derived directly from individual pictograms, but most of the characters are pictophonetics.

厄 is akin to 困厄 or 遭遇困境, such as "being between a rock and a hard place," or being in difficult situation.

There's not much to say about 恶 really. In my opinion, it pertains to 凶恶 stuff, usually brought on as a consequence of one's own actions (akin to "karma") that unrelated to one's fortune (运程).

噩 is as other have described in the comments an adjective meaning 惊人的 or 可怕的; basically something frightening or shocking.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.