兴 妖 作 怪

xīng yāo zuò guàidictionary entry

lit. to summon demons to create havoc (idiom) / fig. to stir up all kinds of trouble

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-cd979cb0f5860976. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

興妖作怪 兴妖作怪 [xing1 yao1 zuo4 guai4] /lit. to summon demons to create havoc (idiom)/fig. to stir up all kinds of trouble/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 興妖作怪

兴
xīng
to rise / to flourish / to become popular / to start / to encourage / to get up / (often used in the negative) to permit or allow (dialect) / maybe (dialect)
xìng
feeling or desire to do sth / interest in sth / excitement
Xīng
surname Xing
妖
yāo
goblin / witch / devil / bewitching / enchanting / monster / phantom / demon
作
zuō
(bound form) worker / (bound form) workshop / (slang) troublesome / high-maintenance (person)
zuò
to do / to engage in / to write / to compose / to pretend / to feign / to regard as / to consider to be / to be / to act the part of / to feel (itchy, nauseous etc) / writings / works
怪
guài
odd / strange / uncanny / (bound form) monster / supernatural being / to find strange / to regard as odd / to blame / (coll.) somewhat / rather

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.