闹笑话 (nào xiào huà) — to make a fool of oneself; to make an embarrassing mistake

Definition

A colloquial verb meaning 'to make a fool of oneself' by doing something silly or embarrassing. Often paired with 出了 or 出 in common patterns (闹出笑话).

verb
to make a fool of oneselfto make an embarrassing mistake

Examples

  • ，。
    Tā dì yī cì shàng tái yǎn jiǎng, jié guǒ nào le xiào hua.
    He gave a speech on stage for the first time and ended up making a fool of himself.
  • ，。
    Bié luàn shuō huà, xiǎo xīn nào chū xiào huà lái.
    Don't speak carelessly, or you might cause an embarrassing mistake.
  • ，。
    Tā chuān cuò xié zi qù shàng bān, nào le yí gè dà xiào hua.
    He wore the wrong shoes to work and made a big embarrassing mistake.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

闹nàomake
笑话laughable words
笑xiàolaugh话huàwords
偏正Modifier + head

闹 (make) and 笑话 (laughable words) form the idea of making a laughable mistake.

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 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 →

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
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
艸
艸cǎo笑xiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Open 笑 →

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑話huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.