恶性

• Pinyin: è xìng
• Hanzi breakdown: 恶 = 亚 + 心 — bad/evil; 性 = 忄(heart radical) + 生 (life/birth) — the innate character arising from one's heart

Meaning

Malignant; vicious; of a harmful or worsening character. Used for tumours, cycles, competition, or other intensifying negative phenomena.

恶性 contrasts directly with 良性 (benign). In medicine: 恶性肿瘤 (malignant tumour). In economics: 恶性竞争 (vicious competition), 恶性循环 (vicious cycle). In crime reporting: 恶性事件 (serious criminal incident). It is always attributive — it modifies a noun rather than functioning as a predicate.

Examples

1. 医生告知患者肿块为恶性，建议立即进行手术切除并配合化疗。 The doctor told the patient the mass was malignant and recommended immediate surgical removal along with chemotherapy.
2. 企业间的低价倾销形成了恶性竞争，最终损害了整个行业的健康发展。 Cutthroat price dumping among companies has created destructive competition, ultimately harming the healthy development of the entire industry.
3. 教育资源的不均衡与贫困之间形成了一个难以打破的恶性循环。 Unequal access to educational resources and poverty have formed a vicious cycle that is difficult to break.

Usage Guide

Context: medicine, economics, crime, social analysis

Tone: serious

Do Say

• 该地区恶性刑事案件的发案率近年来持续上升，引发社会各界对公共安全形势的高度关注。(The incidence of serious criminal cases in the region has continued to rise in recent years, drawing widespread concern from all sectors of society about the public safety situation.)
• 部分企业为在短期内抢占市场，不惜以低于成本的价格销售产品，由此引发了严重的行业恶性竞争局面。(Some companies, in order to seize market share in the short term, sell products at prices below cost, thereby triggering a serious situation of vicious competition in the industry.)

Don't Say

• 他的行为很恶性 — 恶性 is an attributive adjective that modifies nouns (恶性肿瘤, 恶性循环); it does not function as a predicate; say 他的行为极其恶劣 or 他的行为带有恶意

Origin & History

恶 (bad/malicious) + 性 (nature/character) — having a harmful or malicious innate character

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal