Kilo Lingo

(xià) - to frighten, to scare, to be startled in Mandarin

xià

Traditional: 嚇

Line drawing of 吓
Coloured illustration of 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.

Where this fits

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Mandarin · Free printables

吓: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "吓" (to frighten, to scare, to be startled): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 22.