怪 is also the simplified spelling of 恠.

怪

Mandarin · pinyin guài

Meanings

  1. odd; strange; uncanny
  2. (bound form) monster; supernatural being
  3. to find strange; to regard as odd
  4. to blame
  5. (coll.) somewhat; rather
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Characters in this entry

怪
guài · strange, unusual, peculiar
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4 · guai4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 7 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gwaai3

Cantonese word readings for 怪. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character

  1. strange; odd; unusual; peculiar; out of the ordinary; weird; queer
  2. amazed; astonished
  3. to blame someone; to put the blame on
  4. (colloquial) quite; rather
  5. (mythology, suffix) short for 怪物 (guàiwu) or short for 妖怪 (yāoguài), suffix for a monster associated with a particular thing
  6. (video games) short for 怪物 (guàiwu, “monster, a non-player character that player(s) fight against in role-playing games”)
  7. (slang, suffix) short for 怪物 (guàiwu, “monster”) Often used affectionately for people of a trait.

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

怪 · guai4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 41,721
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record怪 怪 [guai4] /odd; strange; uncanny/(bound form) monster; supernatural being/to find strange; to regard as odd/to blame/(coll.) somewhat; rather/