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吓坏 (xià huài) — to be terrified, to be scared stiff

Definition

A resultative verb meaning 'to frighten badly / scare stiff' — the 坏 marks the resulting state of being badly shaken. Built from 把-constructions (把…吓坏了) to show what got scared.

verb
to be terrifiedto be scared stiff

Examples

  • 吓坏。
    Zuó tiān wǎn shàng de diàn yǐng bǎ wǒ xià huài le.
    The movie last night scared me to death.
  • ，吓坏。
    Tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi, tā xià huài le.
    He was terrified upon hearing this news.
  • ，吓坏。
    Nà zhī dà gǒu tū rán pǎo chū lái, bǎ hái zi xià huài le.
    That big dog suddenly ran out, scaring the child badly.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

吓xiàscare
坏huàibadly

吓 means to scare, and 坏 shows the outcome is severe, so the sense is being scared stiff.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 壞; 坏 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
褱
褱huái壞huài
Same sound today

For the traditional form 壞, 土 (earth) is the meaning part and 褱 supplies the sound; earth is used because something that rots eventually becomes earth. This is about 壞, not the simplified 坏.

Open 坏 →
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