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懊恼 (ào nǎo) — annoyed, vexed, upset

Definition

A literary, internal feeling of vexed self-reproach — like 生气 with the anger turned inward. Often used for regret over one's own mistake, as in 她懊恼自己没早点出发.

adjective
annoyedvexedupset

Examples

  • 懊恼。
    Tā yīn wèi diū le gōng zuò ér gǎn dào fēi cháng ào nǎo.
    He felt very upset because he lost his job.
  • 懊恼，。
    Bié wèi zhè zhǒng xiǎo shì ào nǎo le, bù zhí dé.
    Don't get annoyed over such a small matter; it's not worth it.
  • 懊恼。
    Tā ào nǎo zì jǐ méi yǒu zǎo diǎn chū fā.
    She was vexed that she hadn't left earlier.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

懊àoregret
恼nǎoanger

懊 and 恼 both express regret or anger, so 懊恼 means feeling annoyed and upset.

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
奧
奧ào懊ào
Same sound today

The left side 忄 is the heart, written fully as 心, and marks a feeling; the right side 奧 gives the sound.

Open 懊 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 恼 →
Appears in
Emotions & Feelings

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