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扰乱 (rǎo luàn) — to disturb, to disrupt, to harass

Definition

扰乱 is a formal verb meaning to seriously disrupt order, systems, or processes (社会秩序, 睡眠, 金融). Stronger than 打扰 ('bother, interrupt') and 干扰 ('interfere with'), which are milder; 骚扰 focuses on repeated harassment of a person.

verb
to disturbto disruptto harass

Examples

  • 扰乱。
    Tā de xíng wéi yán zhòng rǎo luàn le shè huì zhì xù.
    His behavior severely disrupted social order.
  • 扰乱。
    Qǐng bú yào rǎo luàn qí tā tóng xué xué xí.
    Please do not disturb other students' study.
  • 扰乱。
    Zào yīn huì rǎo luàn lǎo rén de shuì mián.
    Noise can disturb elderly people's sleep.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

扰rǎodisturb
乱luàndisorder

Both 扰 and 乱 carry the sense of disturbance and disorder, so together they mean to make things unsettled.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 擾; 扰 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
夒
夒náo擾rǎo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 擾 combines 手 (hand) with 夒, a sound part; the simplified 扰 is a later shorthand, so its visible pieces are not the historical parts.

Open 扰 →

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 亂; 乱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
乚Written in full as乙yǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
𤔔
𤔔𤔔亂luàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 亂 contains 𤔔, a drawing of combing tangled threads, and 乙; the simplified 乱 is only a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 乱 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Crime & Police

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