搞乱 (gǎo luàn) — Chinese Word

verb HSK 5

Traditional 搞亂

gǎo luàn

to mess up · to throw into disorder · to confuse · to disrupt

Meaning

搞乱 means to cause disorder or confusion, to mess something up. It combines 搞 (to do/make) with 乱 (chaotic/disordered), creating a resultative compound verb that indicates making something messy, confused, or disorganized. It can refer to physical disorder (messing up a room) or mental/organizational confusion (disrupting plans, confusing information).

Usage

This is an informal to neutral verb commonly used in everyday speech. It often appears with a direct object describing what is being messed up (搞乱房间, 搞乱计划). Native speakers use it to express frustration about disruption or disorder. It can also be used in the passive construction 被搞乱了 (was messed up by someone/something).

Examples

01
孩子们把房间搞乱了。
Háizi men bǎ fáng jiān gǎo luàn le.
The children messed up the room.
02
这件事把我的计划全搞乱了。
Zhè jiàn shì bǎ wǒ de jì huà quán gǎo luàn le.
This matter completely disrupted my plans.

Characters

Common collocations

搞乱房间
gǎo luàn fáng jiān
to mess up the room
搞乱计划
gǎo luàn jì huà
to disrupt the plan
把...搞乱
bǎ... gǎo luàn
to mess up...
被搞乱了
bèi gǎo luàn le
was messed up

Antonyms

Origin

搞 originally meant to do or engage in something, while 乱 means chaotic. This is a resultative verb compound where 乱 functions as a complement indicating the result of the action 搞.