罪魁祸首 (zuì kuí huò shǒu)

Character breakdown

• 罪 (zuì) · 13 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 网 represents the meaning and 非 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "fishing net". The current meaning, originally written 辠, is a phonetic loan.

• 魁 (kuí) · 13 strokes

  One who fought 斗 a ghost 鬼; 鬼 also provides the pronunciation

• 祸 (huò) · 11 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 礻 represents the meaning and 呙 represents the sound. Simplified form of 禍.

• 首 (shǒu) · 9 strokes

  Pictograph of a head (hair above a face with an eye).

Usage

他是这次事故的罪魁祸首。

criminal ringleader, main offender (idiom); main culprit; fig. main cause of a disaster

tā shì zhè cì shì gù de zuì kuí huò shǒu 。