<p>Did you know? 厄 is a 象形字, a pictogram. It is said that about 4 percent of the characters in the Chinese are derived directly from individual pictograms, but most of the characters are <a href="http://www.digmandarin.com/four-main-types-of-chinese-characters.html" rel="noreferrer">pictophonetics</a>.</p>

<p>厄 is akin to 困厄 or 遭遇困境, such as "being between a rock and a hard place," or being in difficult situation.</p>

<p>There's not much to say about 恶 really. In my opinion, it pertains to 凶恶 stuff, usually brought on as a consequence of one's own actions (akin to "karma") that unrelated to one's fortune (运程).</p>

<p>噩 is as other have described in the comments an adjective meaning 惊人的 or 可怕的; basically something frightening or shocking.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-28T18:19:56.250Z
2015-04-28T18:19:56.250Z
Krazer
<p>I have seen these three characters forming the "same" words (I cannot think of a better way to phrase this), such as</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>惡夢 vs 噩夢 </p>
</blockquote>

<p>and</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>惡運 vs 噩運 vs 厄運 </p>
</blockquote>

<p>As I tried googling for the difference, I find different opinions on their meaning/usage – some argue that they are interchangeable; others claim that they are slightly different. <a href="http://www.zhihu.com/question/20016153" rel="nofollow">Below</a> is what I thought to be the best explanation I have found by far:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>噩: 不祥.<br>
  厄: 灾难.<br>
  恶: 恶劣.<br></p>
  
  <p>不祥不一定就会发生灾难, 但灾难必定是不祥的, 而这两者都很恶劣.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>However, the explanation still sounds rather vague to me. In explicit, how do these characters differ in meaning/usage? </p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-19T07:30:16.187Z
http://www.jxteacher.com/zhaoxiaoli/column57436/d52fe790-21d4-4c7c-a529-39bf621a6086.html “恶梦”侧重梦的凶险、不祥，强调梦的内容；“噩梦”侧重梦的惊恐，强调心理感受。如“那场~至今难忘”，用前者为好；“我从~中惊醒”，以后者为宜。
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-19T07:35:33.643Z
http://www.360doc.com/content/13/0715/09/3918785_300060620.shtml
1、厄运  比较官方的语言
2、噩运  侧重不幸（凄惨）的命运，一般伴随着人的伤亡和疾病
3、恶运  不常用，指坏的运气，不一定是不幸的
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-21T09:23:43.150Z
I am a Chinese, but I can't tell the difference.
S.C.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-26T03:01:50.750Z
I'm a Chinese, I use "厄运" because this is the only one in my pinyin input method. and by the way, many questions here let me rethink if i'm really a Chinese.
Shiji.J
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-28T13:25:35.427Z
[è] using 爱词霸、小马词典。顺便一提＂汉语水平考试词典＂没有＂噩、厄＂条目，只有＂恶＂ 
噩: 1. （形）凶恶惊人的。shocking ； upsetting 
compounds：噩梦、噩耗、噩运 variant of 厄运 
厄: 2. （灾难；困苦） adversity; disaster; hardship  动1. （受困） be in distress; be stranded The fishing boat was caught in a storm. 渔船厄于风暴。
厄widely used for transliterating foreign names e。g。厄立特里亚
恶:  <名> （很坏的行为； 犯罪的事情） evil ； vice ； wickedness <形> fierce ； ferocious ； bad ； evil
user6065
<word-choice><meaning><usage><difference><meaning-in-context>
"惡" vs "噩" vs "厄"
# "惡" vs "噩" vs "厄"

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-04-18)

I have seen these three characters forming the "same" words (I cannot think of a better way to phrase this), such as

> 惡夢 vs 噩夢

and

> 惡運 vs 噩運 vs 厄運

As I tried googling for the difference, I find different opinions on their meaning/usage – some argue that they are interchangeable; others claim that they are slightly different. [Below](http://www.zhihu.com/question/20016153) is what I thought to be the best explanation I have found by far:

> 噩: 不祥.  
> 厄: 灾难.  
> 恶: 恶劣.
>
> 不祥不一定就会发生灾难, 但灾难必定是不祥的, 而这两者都很恶劣.

However, the explanation still sounds rather vague to me. In explicit, how do these characters differ in meaning/usage?

Thanks in advance!

**Tags:** word-choice, meaning, usage, difference, meaning-in-context

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: http://www.jxteacher.com/zhaoxiaoli/column57436/d52fe790-21d4-4c7c-a529-39bf621a6086.html “恶梦”侧重梦的凶险、不祥，强调梦的内容；“噩梦”侧重梦的惊恐，强调心理感受。如“那场~至今难忘”，用前者为好；“我从~中惊醒”，以后者为宜。  
> **username_1**: http://www.360doc.com/content/13/0715/09/3918785_300060620.shtml 1、厄运  比较官方的语言 2、噩运  侧重不幸（凄惨）的命运，一般伴随着人的伤亡和疾病 3、恶运  不常用，指坏的运气，不一定是不幸的  
> **username_2**: I am a Chinese, but I can't tell the difference.  
> **username_3**: I'm a Chinese, I use "厄运" because this is the only one in my pinyin input method. and by the way, many questions here let me rethink if i'm really a Chinese.  
> **username_4**: [è] using 爱词霸、小马词典。顺便一提＂汉语水平考试词典＂没有＂噩、厄＂条目，只有＂恶＂  噩: 1. （形）凶恶惊人的。shocking ； upsetting  compounds：噩梦、噩耗、噩运 variant of 厄运  厄: 2. （灾难；困苦） adversity; disaster; hardship  动1. （受困） be in distress; be stranded The fishing boat was caught in a storm. 渔船厄于风暴。 厄widely used for transliterating foreign names e。g。厄立特里亚 恶:  <名> （很坏的行为； 犯罪的事情） evil ； vice ； wickedness <形> fierce ； ferocious ； bad ； evil  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2015-04-28. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

Did you know? 厄 is a 象形字, a pictogram. It is said that about 4 percent of the characters in the Chinese are derived directly from individual pictograms, but most of the characters are [pictophonetics](http://www.digmandarin.com/four-main-types-of-chinese-characters.html).

厄 is akin to 困厄 or 遭遇困境, such as "being between a rock and a hard place," or being in difficult situation.

There's not much to say about 恶 really. In my opinion, it pertains to 凶恶 stuff, usually brought on as a consequence of one's own actions (akin to "karma") that unrelated to one's fortune (运程).

噩 is as other have described in the comments an adjective meaning 惊人的 or 可怕的; basically something frightening or shocking.


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