招惹 (zhāo rě) — to provoke, to bring upon oneself (something bad, e.g. trouble, anger); (colloquial) to tease, to flirt with (a person, often romantically)

Definition

招惹 means to provoke or invite trouble onto yourself (often trouble, anger, or a fierce animal) — the first sense in every example. It can also mean to tease or flirt with someone, usually with a negative tone.

verb
to provoketo bring upon oneself (something bad, e.g. trouble, anger)(colloquial) to teaseto flirt with (a person, often romantically)

Examples

  • 招惹,。
    Bié zhāo rě má fan, zhè lǐ yǐ jīng hěn luàn le.
    Don't provoke trouble — it's already chaotic here.
  • 招惹,。
    Tā zǒng ài zhāo rě nǚ shēng, dà jiā dōu bù xǐ huan tā.
    He always teases girls, and nobody likes him.
  • ,招惹。
    Nà zhī gǒu hěn xiōng, qiān wàn bié qù zhāo rě tā.
    That dog is very fierce — don't go provoking it.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

招zhāoinvite
惹rěprovoke

招 invites and 惹 provokes, so together they bring on trouble or tease 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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
召
召zhào招zhāo
Same sound today

招 pairs 扌, the hand part, with 召, which gives the sound, to show beckoning with the hand.

Open 招 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 惹 →

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