烦燥 (fán zào) — irritable, agitated, restless

Definition

Note the spelling: the standard form is 烦躁 (fán zào). It means feeling irritated and unable to settle down — a restless bad mood, not just a one-off annoyance.

adjective
irritableagitatedrestless
Easily confused

Examples

  • 烦燥，。
    Tā zuì jìn xīn qíng hěn fán zào, róng yì fā huǒ.
    He's been irritable lately and easily gets angry.
  • 烦燥，。
    Bié fán zào, wǒ men màn màn xiǎng bàn fǎ.
    Don't be agitated; let's think of a solution slowly.
  • 烦燥。
    Zhè zhǒng fán zào de qíng xù ràng wǒ shuì bù zháo.
    This restless mood keeps me from sleeping.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 煩; 烦 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 煩, the shape is made from 火 (fire) and 頁 (head).

Open 烦 →

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
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
喿
喿zào燥zào
Same sound today

燥 is built from 火 (fire) and 喿, which gives its sound.

Open 燥 →

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