xià

Traditional: 吓

#1068 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

to frighten, to scare, to be startled

Word origin

A phono-semantic compound: the mouth radical 口 evokes the cry of fright, while 下 (xià) supplies the sound; it means to frighten or to be startled.

Origin
phono-semantic
Root
口 (mouth radical) + 下 (xià, phonetic)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 吓

Examples

You startled me.

Do not frighten the child.

That noise gave me a fright.

He was so scared he could not speak.

This film scared her to tears.

吓 (xià) means to frighten, to scare, to be startled. It is a verb for giving someone a fright.

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This word is part of lesson 22.