Chinese symbol for “terrible”
恐怖
kǒng bù
terrible; frightful; frightening; terror
The closest CC-CEDICT match for terrible is 恐怖 (kǒng bù), defined as: terrible; frightful; frightening; terror; terrorist.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Other Chinese words for “terrible”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 厉害 (厲害) | lì hai | (used to describe sb or sth that makes a very strong impression, whether favorable or unfavorable) terrible; intense; severe; devastating; amazing; awesome; outstanding; (of a pers |
| 凶 (兇) | xiōng | terrible; fearful |
| 可怕 | kě pà | awful; dreadful |
| 糟糕 | zāo gāo | too bad; how terrible |
| 臭 | chòu | stench; smelly |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 恐怖.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 恐惧 (恐懼) | kǒng jù | fear; dread; to fear; to dread |
| 恐怕 | kǒng pà | fear; to dread |
| 恐怖主义 (恐怖主義) | kǒng bù zhǔ yì | terrorism |
| 反恐 | fǎn kǒng | anti-terrorism; to fight against terrorism |
| 恐慌 | kǒng huāng | panic; panicky |
| 恐怖分子 (恐怖份子) | kǒng bù fèn zǐ | variant of 恐怖分子 (kǒng bù fèn zǐ) |
| 恐怖组织 (恐怖組織) | kǒng bù zǔ zhī | terrorist organization |
| 恐怖片 | kǒng bù piàn | horror movie; measure word: 部 (bù) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “terrible”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.