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吓唬 (xià hu) — to scare, to frighten (often intentionally or playfully, informal)

Definition

吓唬 (xià hu) is a casual, often playful verb meaning 'to scare (someone on purpose)' — informal compared with 恐吓 ('to threaten'). Use 吓人 as the adjective ('scary') and 惊吓 for an unintended startle.

verb
to scareto frighten (often intentionally or playfully, informal)

Examples

  • 吓唬，。
    Bié xià hu xiǎo hái, tā men huì hài pà.
    Don't scare the kids — they'll be frightened.
  • 吓唬，。
    Tā zhǐ shì xià hu nǐ, bú huì zhēn dòng shǒu.
    He's just trying to scare you; he won't actually fight.
  • 吓唬。
    Nǐ zhè zhǒng xià hu rén de bǎ xì piàn bù liǎo wǒ.
    That kind of scaring trick of yours won't fool me.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

吓xiàscare
唬hǔfrighten

吓 and 唬 both carry the sense of frightening, so together they mean to scare someone.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
下
下xià吓hè
Same sound today

吓 is built from 口 (mouth) and 下, which gives the sound; the mouth part marks a meaning connected with the mouth.

Open 吓 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
虎
虎hǔ唬hǔ
Same sound today

唬 puts 口 (mouth) beside 虎 (tiger), with 口 carrying the sense and 虎 giving the sound.

Open 唬 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Emotions & Feelings

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