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喧闹 (xuān nào) — (adjective) noisy, boisterous; (verb) to make a noise, to be noisy

Definition

A strong, vivid word for 'noisy and lively,' often describing a scene or crowd. Stronger and more literary than 闹 or 吵; very close to 喧哗 but emphasizes ongoing commotion.

adjective
noisyboisterous
verb
to make a noiseto be noisy

Examples

  • 喧闹。
    Zhè tiáo jiē bái tiān hěn xuān nào.
    This street is very noisy during the day.
  • 喧闹，。
    Hái zi men zài yuàn zi lǐ xuān nào, ràng rén méi fǎ gōng zuò.
    The children are making noise in the yard, making it impossible for people to work.
  • 喧闹，。
    Jiào shì lǐ yí zhèn xuān nào, lǎo shī bù dé bù tí gāo shēng yīn.
    The classroom burst into noise, and the teacher had to raise her voice.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

喧xuānnoisy
闹nàonoisy

喧 (noisy) and 闹 (noisy) combine to mean boisterous noise.

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kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
宣
宣xuān喧xuān
Same sound today

喧 is made of 口 (mouth) and 宣, which is read xuān and gives the character its sound.

Open 喧 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鬧; 闹 is its simplified writing.

  • 鬥鬥dòuto fight
  • 市市shìmarket; town

The traditional form 鬧 combines 鬥 (to fight) and 市 (market; town) to mean noisy.

Open 闹 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Senses

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