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吼 (hǒu) — to roar, to howl, to bellow (of humans) to shout angrily

Definition

吼 (hǒu) is a loud, rough 'roar' — used for animal roars and for humans shouting in anger. Stronger and rougher than 嚷 ('yell, make a fuss'); 呼喊 is more about calling out.

verb
to roarto howlto bellow (of humans) to shout angrily
Easily confused

Examples

  • 吼。
    Lǎo hǔ zài sēn lín lǐ hǒu le yī shēng.
    The tiger roared in the forest.
  • 。
    Dōng tiān de fēng zài wài miàn hǒu jiào.
    The winter wind howled outside.
  • 吼：“！”
    Tā shēng qì dì duì wǒ hǒu: "bié shuō le!"
    He angrily roared at me: 'Stop talking!'

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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
孔
孔kǒng吼hǒu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

吼 combines 口 (mouth) with 孔, which gives the character its sound. The mouth part shows the roar or growl is made by the mouth.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Communication & Speech5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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