妖怪

• 병음: yāo guài
• 한자 분석: 妖 = 女 (woman radical — many spirits were female in early mythology) + 夭 (bending/premature — suggesting the unnatural or uncanny); 怪 = 忄(heart) + 圣 (originally: an anomaly that disturbs the heart)

뜻

요괴; 초자연적 괴물

A staple of Chinese mythology, opera, and literature — featured prominently in Journey to the West (西游记) and countless folk tales. Covers a broad spectrum: animal spirits that have cultivated powers (狐妖, 蛇妖), undead spirits, shape-shifting demons, and malevolent nature deities. In modern usage, also used playfully to describe someone oddly talented, bizarre-looking, or unpredictable.

예문

1. 在中国传统神话故事中，妖怪往往具有呼风唤雨、变化无穷的超自然能力，是正道英雄们在降妖除魔过程中最主要的对立力量。
2. 孩子们最爱缠着爷爷讲山里妖怪出没的故事，尽管知道那只是民间传说，每次听完还是忍不住既兴奋又害怕。
3. 这款国产手游以中国古典妖怪文化为背景，融合了大量传统神话元素，在年轻玩家群体中引发了广泛的关注与讨论。

사용 가이드

맥락: mythology, literature, pop culture, everyday speech

어조: playful

올바른 표현

• 西游记中的各路妖怪形态各异、法力高低不同，孙悟空在取经途中凭借七十二变和金箍棒，一一将这些妖怪降服或消灭。(The various monsters in Journey to the West differ in form and magical power; Monkey King, on the journey to obtain the scriptures, used his seventy-two transformations and golden cudgel to subdue or destroy them one by one.)
• 她在游戏里把自己的角色设计成了一只修炼成精的九尾狐妖，集美貌与法力于一身，成为队伍中最受玩家追捧的人气角色。(In the game she designed her character as a nine-tailed fox demon that has cultivated great power — combining beauty and magical ability — becoming the most popular character among players in the team.)

피해야 할 표현

• 你真是个妖怪 — while this can be said playfully to mean 'you're incredibly talented/bizarre,' it is potentially rude in formal or unfamiliar settings; reserve for close friends in clearly joking contexts; in formal situations say 你真厉害 or 你真奇特

기원과 역사

妖 = 女 (woman — supernatural beings in early myths were often female spirits) + 夭 (bending/young death — the uncanny, premature, or unnatural) + 怪 (strange — 忄heart + 圣 originally meaning anomalous; something strange that unsettles the heart)

문화적 배경

시대: Classical/Modern

세대: All ages

사회적 배경: Universal