风暴

• Pinyin: fēng bào
• Hanzi breakdown: 风 = simplified from 風, wind blowing through an insect; 暴 = 日 (sun) + 共 + 水 — violent, sudden

Meaning

Storm; tempest. Violent weather with strong winds, often accompanied by rain, snow, or other precipitation.

Used both literally for weather phenomena and metaphorically for turbulent situations. Literal: 暴风雪 (blizzard), 热带风暴 (tropical storm). Metaphorical: 政治风暴 (political storm), 金融风暴 (financial storm), 头脑风暴 (brainstorm). The metaphorical usage is very common in news and business contexts.

Examples

1. 气象台预报今晚将有强风暴来袭，建议市民减少外出。 The weather station forecasts a strong storm hitting tonight and advises residents to minimize going out.
2. 这场金融风暴席卷全球，无数企业在一夜之间破产。 This financial storm swept the globe, and countless companies went bankrupt overnight.
3. 我们开个头脑风暴会议，集思广益想想新方案。 Let's have a brainstorming session to pool our ideas and come up with new solutions.

Usage Guide

Context: weather, news, business

Tone: dramatic

Do Say

• 风暴过后天空格外晴朗。(After the storm, the sky was especially clear.)
• 公司正在经历一场管理风暴。(The company is going through a management storm.)

Don't Say

• 把普通下雨说成风暴 (Don't call ordinary rain a 风暴 — it specifically means violent weather with strong winds)

Origin & History

Compound of 风 (wind) + 暴 (violent, sudden). 暴 originally depicted the sun drying something quickly, later extended to mean violent or sudden.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal