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困扰 (kùn rǎo) — to trouble, to perplex, to bother

Definition

困扰 focuses on something that persistently troubles your mind over time (a problem, a thought, a situation) — more lasting and internal than 麻烦 ('inconvenient') or 打扰 ('to interrupt').

verb
to troubleto perplexto bother

Examples

  • 困扰。
    Zhè ge wèn tí kùn rǎo le wǒ hěn jiǔ.
    This problem has troubled me for a long time.
  • 困扰。
    Bú yào wèi xiǎo shì kùn rǎo.
    Don't bother about small matters.
  • 困扰。
    Tā de huà yì zhí kùn rǎo zhe wǒ.
    His words have been troubling me all along.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

困kùntrouble
扰rǎodisturb

困 and 扰 both carry a sense of trouble or disturbance, so together they mean to perplex or bother.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 囗囗wéisurround
  • 木木mùwood

困 is drawn as 木 (wood) enclosed by 囗 (surround). The evidence says this was probably the original form of a word meaning 'doorsill'.

Open 困 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 擾; 扰 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
夒
夒náo擾rǎo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 擾 combines 手 (hand) with 夒, a sound part; the simplified 扰 is a later shorthand, so its visible pieces are not the historical parts.

Open 扰 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Mental Health5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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