哄 (hǒng) — to coax, to soothe; to kid, to deceive
Definition
With tone 3 (hǒng), 哄 means to coax or soothe (often a child) — gentler and more playful than 劝 ('to persuade'). As 'to kid', it's lighter than 欺骗 ('to deceive').
verb
to coaxto sootheto kidto deceive
Examples
- 哄。Mā ma zài hǒng hái zi shuì jiào.Mom is coaxing the child to sleep.
- 哄，。Nǐ bié hǒng wǒ le, wǒ zhī dào zhēn xiàng.Don't kid me — I know the truth.
- 哄。Tā hěn huì hǒng nǚ péng you kāi xīn.He is very good at cheering up his girlfriend.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
哄 is made from 口, the mouth part, and 共, the part that gives its sound.
Appears in
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