What does “流氓” mean in English?
This refers to someone who is a thug, rogue, or lecher, often used as an insult. It literally translates to 'hooligan.'
Literally “hooligan”
It's typically aimed directly at someone, similar to calling someone a 'dick' in English. The tone can range from playful to genuinely insulting, and it can also be used descriptively in everyday conversation.
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Related Chinese words
傻子
2/5 · Coarseshǎzi
It means 'fool' and is used to insult someone perceived as foolish. It's more of a disparaging label than a serious accusation of stupidity.
傻帽
2/5 · Coarseshǎmào
It's an insult for someone considered an idiot. Literally, it translates to 'foolish hat.'
去你的
2/5 · Coarseqù nǐ de
It's a way of telling someone to get lost, similar to saying 'fuck off' in English. The literal translation is 'go your' but it's not commonly used literally.
吸血鬼
2/5 · Coarsexīxuèguǐ
It refers to someone who exploits others, like a leech. While it literally means 'vampire,' the figurative use is the focus here.
About this data
Swear Atlas is a source-attested, AI-curated reference — not a native-speaker-certified dictionary. Meanings and the 1–5 Burn Rating are approximate editorial assessments that vary with context, region, tone and speaker. Inclusion of a word does not constitute endorsement of its use.
The literal gloss is a short editorial translation to show word-for-word sense, not an etymological claim.
“Sounds like” is an English-friendly approximation of how the word sounds, not an authoritative pronunciation. Where shown, the romanisation is a conventional Latin-script transliteration of the original spelling.
Term attested via 4troDev/profanity.csv, Viddexa SafeText (MIT). Editorial content © Swear Atlas.