祸害 huòhai disaster
disaster; harm; scourge; bad person; to damage; to harm; to wreck
How to remember 祸害: 祸 misfortune + 害 injure = disaster.
Characters
How it is used
- A scourge / source of harm, or a troublemaker - 蝗虫是庄稼的祸害 (huángchóng shì zhuāngjia de huòhai) locusts are the bane of crops.
- Also a verb, to ruin/wreak havoc: 祸害百姓 (huòhai bǎixìng) to bring disaster on the people. Note 害 is unstressed. Stronger and more damning than 麻烦 (trouble).