---
title: "Zainan Meaning: 灾难 (zāinàn) Means “disaster”"
description: "灾难 (traditional 災難, zāinàn) means “disaster; catastrophe”. Hear its tones, see what 灾 and 难 each mean and a real sentence that uses it."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/zainan"
published: "2026-10-21"
updated: "2026-11-06"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[What does it mean in Chinese?](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning)

# What does 灾难 mean?

猫头鹰māotóuyīngowl

灾难 zāinàn

## disaster; catastrophe

## Its characters

1. 灾 zāi disaster
2. 难 nàn disaster

## In a sentence

这次考试对我来说简直是一场灾难。 This exam was a total disaster for me.

天，祖师把他叫到面前，说：“悟空，你虽然学会了长生的方法，可是以后还会遇到三次大**灾难**。

From [七十二变 · Seventy-Two Changes](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/seventy-two-changes-journey-to-the-west-intermediate-chinese-3#library-word-63-65)

[More about 灾难](https://mandarinthewild.com/words/%E7%81%BE%E9%9A%BE)

## More words with 灾 or 难

- [火灾 huǒzāi](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/huozai)
- [艰难 jiānnán](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/jiannan)
- [困难 kùnnan](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/kunnan)
- [难道 nándào](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/nandao)
- [难得 nándé](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/nande)
- [难点 nándiǎn](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/nandian)
- [难度 nándù](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/nandu)
- [难怪 nánguài](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/nanguai)
- [难过 nánguò](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/nanguo)
- [难看 nánkàn](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/nankan)

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