恶 事 传 千 里

è shì chuán qiān lǐdictionary entry

evil deeds spread a thousand miles (idiom) / scandal spreads like wildfire

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-f76946a29c4ccbdd. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

惡事傳千里 恶事传千里 [e4 shi4 chuan2 qian1 li3] /evil deeds spread a thousand miles (idiom); scandal spreads like wildfire/

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: 惡事傳千里

恶
ě
used in 惡心|恶心[ě xīn]
è
evil / fierce / vicious / ugly / coarse / to harm
wù
to hate / to loathe / ashamed / to fear / to slander
事
shì
matter / thing / item / work / affair / CL:件[jiàn],樁|桩[zhuāng],回[huí]
传
chuán
to pass on / to spread / to transmit / to infect / to transfer / to circulate / to conduct (electricity)
zhuàn
biography / historical narrative / commentaries / relay station
千
qiān
thousand / used in 鞦韆|秋千[qiū qiān]
里
lǐ
lining / interior / inside / internal / also written 裏|里[lǐ] / li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m / neighborhood / ancient administrative unit of 25 families / (Tw) borough, administrative unit between the township 鎮|镇[zhèn] and neighborhood 鄰|邻[lín] levels
Lǐ
surname Li

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.