倒霉

Chinese

		upset; turn over; to tip upset; turn over; to tip; to pour; to go home; to the contrary; inverted; to fall; to collapse; to topple; to change; to fail; bankrupt	bacteria; fungi; mouldy
trad. (倒霉)		倒	霉
simp. #(倒霉)		倒	霉
alternative forms		倒楣 倒煤

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dǎoméi

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄠˇ ㄇㄟˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): dou² mui⁴

• Gan (Wiktionary): dau³ mi⁴
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): tó-mûi / tó-bôe
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁵tau ⁶me

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dǎoméi
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄠˇ ㄇㄟˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dǎoméi
    • Wade–Giles: tao³-mei²
    • Yale: dǎu-méi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: daomei
    • Palladius: даомэй (daomɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ meɪ̯³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: dou² mui⁴
    • Yale: dóu mùih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dou² mui⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: dou² mui⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tou̯³⁵ muːi̯²¹/
• Gan
  • (Nanchang)
    • Wiktionary: dau³ mi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tau²¹³⁻¹³ mi³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tó-mûi
    • Tâi-lô: tó-muî
    • Phofsit Daibuun: doymuii
    • IPA (Xiamen): /to⁵³⁻⁴⁴ muĩ²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /to⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ muĩ²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tó-bôe
    • Tâi-lô: tó-buê
    • Phofsit Daibuun: doy'boee
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /to⁵³⁻⁴⁴ bue¹³/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /to⁵³⁻⁴⁴ bue²⁴/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁵tau ⁶me
    • MiniDict: tau^去 me^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²tau ³me
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /tɔ⁴⁴  me²³/

Adjective

倒霉

1. out of luck; in an unlucky situation
2. (euphemistic, colloquial, of a woman) on one's period

Synonyms

• (out of luck):

edit

• 不幸 (bùxìng)
• 倒運／倒运 (dǎoyùn)
• 失氣／失气 (shīqì) (literary)
• 悲催 (bēicuī) (neologism, jocular)
• 敗興／败兴 (bàixìng) (regional)
• 晦氣／晦气 (huìqì)
• 背時／背时 (bèishí)
• 背興／背兴 (bèixìng) (regional)

 

Dialectal synonyms of 倒霉 (“unlucky; out of luck”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		倒霉, 倒運, 晦氣, 背運, 背時
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	倒霉, 背運, 晦氣
	Harbin	背興
	Singapore	倒霉
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	倒霉
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	倒霉
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	倒霉
	Wanrong	倒灶
	Xi'an	倒霉
	Xuzhou	背時, 倒灶
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	倒灶, 背時, 背運
	Ürümqi	倒運
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	背時, 倒灶, 背時倒灶
	Wuhan	背時, 倒運, 點子低, 背九一
	Liuzhou	背時, 倒灶, 衰
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	晦氣
Cantonese	Guangzhou	衰, 行衰運, 黑, 當黑, 運滯, 倒霉
	Hong Kong	衰, 行衰運, 當衰, 黑, 當黑, 黑仔, 運滯
	Hong Kong (Kam Tin Weitou)	當衰
	Macau	滯運, 黑
	Guangzhou (Panyu)	運滯, 衰
	Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)	衰
	Guangzhou (Conghua)	衰
	Guangzhou (Zengcheng)	運滯
	Foshan	運滯, 衰
	Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai)	倒霉, 運滯
	Foshan (Shunde)	衰
	Foshan (Sanshui)	衰, 運滯
	Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)	失運
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	滯運
	Zhuhai (Qianshan, Xiangzhou)	衰
	Zhuhai (Shangheng, Doumen; Tanka)	行衰運
	Zhuhai (Doumen)	滯運, 衰
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	衰
	Jiangmen (Xinhui)	衰
	Taishan	衰, 衰來, 黑, 黑頸, 滯運, 倒霉
	Kaiping (Chikan)	衰
	Enping (Niujiang)	衰
	Heshan (Yayao)	唔夠運
	Dongguan	當衰, 運滯
	Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)	衰
	Singapore (Guangfu)	衰
Gan	Nanchang	倒霉, 倒運, 背時
	Lichuan	倒灶
	Pingxiang	背時
Hakka	Meixian	衰
	Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)	衰, 倒運
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	衰
	Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)	衰
	Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)	衰
	Guangzhou (Lütian, Conghua)	衰
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	衰, 衰漦
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	衰, 衰漦
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	衰, 衰漦
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	衰, 衰漦
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	衰, 衰漦
Huizhou	Jixi	倒霉, 倒運, 倒灶, 背時
Jin	Taiyuan	倒運, 背時
	Xinzhou	背興
Northern Min	Jian'ou	衰
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	衰, 倒運, 倒灶, 騎背
Southern Min	Xiamen	衰, 衰䆀, 衰潲, 衰神, 衰運, 落衰, 歹字運, 歹運, 拍觸衰
	Quanzhou	衰, 衰䆀, 衰潲, 衰運, 歹字運, 歹運, 拍觸衰
	Zhangzhou	衰, 衰䆀, 衰潲, 衰運, 落衰, 䆀字運, 拍觸衰
	Tainan	衰, 衰䆀, 衰潲, 衰尾, 落衰, 歹運
	Penang (Hokkien)	衰, 衰潲
	Singapore (Hokkien)	衰
	Manila (Hokkien)	衰, 衰潲, 衰䆀, 歹命, 歹運, 歹字運
	Shantou	衰
	Jieyang	衰, 唔利市
	Singapore (Teochew)	衰
	Leizhou	衰
	Haikou	衰
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	滯運
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	衰
Wu	Shanghai	倒霉, 觸霉頭, 晦氣
	Shanghai (Songjiang)	触霉頭
	Shanghai (Jiading)	觸霉頭, 倒運
	Shanghai (Chongming)	霉, 觸霉頭, 霉氣, 背時, 背霉
	Suzhou	触霉頭
	Wuxi	触霉頭
	Hangzhou	倒霉, 倒運, 倒灶
	Shaoxing	倒灶
	Ningbo	倒運, 晦氣
	Lishui	倒灶
	Jinyun	倒楣, 倒灶
	Jinhua	倒霉, 霉運, 倒灶, 倒運
Xiang	Changsha	背時, 走蹩腳
	Loudi	背時, 倒霉