厉害 lìhai terrible
terrible; formidable; fierce; cool; awesome
How to remember 厉害: 厉 whetstone + 害 injure = terrible.
Characters
How it is used
- Two poles: 'awesome/impressive/formidable' - 你太厉害了！ (nǐ tài lìhai le) you're amazing!; and 'severe/intense/fierce' - 疼得厉害 (téng de lìhai) hurts badly.
- Neutral tone hai. As praise it's very common slang for skill or power; as intensity it describes how bad/strong something is.
- Context flips it between compliment and 'nasty/harsh': 这人很厉害 could mean capable or tough/fearsome.
Example sentences
- 我烧得很厉害。 Wǒ shāo de hěn lìhài.I have a high fever.
- 他感冒了，头痛得厉害。 Tā gǎnmào le, tóu tòngde lìhai.He caught a cold and has a bad headache.
- 今年的流行感冒很厉害。 Jīnnián de liúxíng gǎnmào hěn lìhai.Flu is widespread this year.