聒噪 (guō zào) — (literary) harsh, grating noise; clamor

Definition

Literary word for harsh, grating noise that wears on the ears. Often used to describe a noisy, restless environment or a chatterbox person (as a verb/adjective: 聒噪的).

noun
(literary) harshgrating noiseclamor

Examples

  • 聒噪，。
    Chuāng wài chuán lái yí zhèn guō zào, dǎ duàn le wǒ de sī lù.
    A burst of clamor came from outside the window, interrupting my train of thought.
  • 聒噪，。
    Tā wú fǎ rěn shòu zhè zhǒng guō zào, biàn shuāi mén ér chū.
    He couldn't stand this noise and stormed out, slamming the door.
  • 聒噪，。
    Shēn shān gǔ sì zhōng méi yǒu chéng shì de guō zào, zhǐ yǒu niǎo míng hé fēng shēng.
    In the deep mountain ancient temple, there is no clamor of the city, only birdsong and the sound of wind.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

聒guōnoisy
噪zàonoise

聒 and 噪 both describe loud, harsh sound, giving clamor.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 聒 →

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
喿
喿zào噪zào
Same sound today

噪 combines 口 (mouth) with 喿, a part read zào and meaning 'to chirp'; the character was originally written just 喿.

Open 噪 →

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