憎惡 / 憎恶
zēngwù, zēng'è
The English word "disgusting" can be translated into Chinese using several terms such as 憎惡 / 憎恶 (zēngwù, zēng'è), 可惡 / 可恶 or 討厭 / 讨厌.
Meaning: repulsive, distasteful (adj)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 憎惡 / 憎恶 | zēngwù, zēng'è |
| 可惡 / 可恶 | kěwù |
| 討厭 / 讨厌 | tǎoyàn |
These terms are used to express feelings of repulsion, distaste. In spoken Chinese, a very common way to express strong personal distaste or annoyance is to say 真討厭 (zhēn tǎoyàn), which means "really disgusting" or "so annoying".
How do you pronounce it?
zēngwù, zēng'è
Did you know?
- While 討厭 (tǎoyàn) means 'disgusting' or 'annoying', it is frequently used in a flirtatious way to mean 'you are so cute' or 'stop teasing me' when spoken with a specific playful tone.
- In certain dialects, adding the particle 死 (sǐ) meaning 'death' after a word for disgust, as in 討厭死了 (tǎoyàn sǐ le), is a common way to say something is 'extremely' disgusting.
- The character 惡 / 恶 inside 憎惡 / 憎恶 (zēng'è) is the same character used to refer to 'evil' or 'badness' in many classical Chinese texts, highlighting a deep moral weight behind the word for disgust.
Examples in context
- 他对那种行为感到厌恶。(tā duì nà zhǒng xíng wéi gǎn dào yàn wù)He feels disgusted by that behavior.
- 看到那个场景，我感到恶心。(kàn dào nà gè chǎng jǐng, wǒ gǎn dào ě xīn)Seeing that scene makes me feel disgusted.
- 那个人的行为真的太令人恶心了。(nà gè rén de xíng wéi zhēn de tài lìng rén ě xīn le)That person's behavior is really disgusting.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “disgusting” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
