虐

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(bound form) brutal; oppressive; harsh; (literary) disaster; catastrophe

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Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

A tiger 虍 baring its claws 彐

Components 虍彐

despotic · Heisig RSH #2913

虎 tiger + broom

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
暴虐无道	bào nüè wú dào	(idiom) tyrannical; oppressive; lawless
性虐待	xìng nüè dài	sexual abuse
施虐者	shī nüè zhě	abuser; (in sadomasochism) dominant partner
虐心	nüè xīn	heartbreaking; tear-jerking
受虐狂	shòu nüè kuáng	masochism; masochist
虐待狂	nüè dài kuáng	sadism; sadist
受虐	shòu nüè	to suffer sexual abuse; masochism
施虐狂	shī nüè kuáng	sadism (psychiatry)
虐杀	nüè shā	to kill (or assault) sadistically
谑而不虐	xuè ér bù nüè	to tease; to mock sb without offending; to banter
施虐受虐	shī nüè shòu nüè	sado-masochism
暴虐	bào nüè	brutal; tyrannical
虐待	nüè dài	to mistreat; to maltreat; to abuse; mistreatment; maltreatment
施虐	shī nüè	to torment; to abuse (an animal, child etc)
残虐	cán nüè	cruel; to treat cruelly
完虐	wán nüè	to trounce; to convincingly defeat; to significantly outperform
虐恋	nüè liàn	painful love affair; sadomasochism
助纣为虐	zhù Zhòu wéi nüè	lit. helping tyrant Zhou 商紂王\|商纣王[Shang1 Zhou4 wang2] in his oppression (idiom); fig. to ta…
施虐癖	shī nüè pǐ	sadism (fetish)
凌虐	líng nüè	to maltreat; to tyrannize