骄 (jiāo) — proud; arrogant; conceited (bound morpheme)

Definition

骄 is a bound morpheme (always part of 骄傲, 骄兵, etc.) meaning 'arrogant / conceited'. Use 骄傲 as the standalone word; 骄 only appears in compounds.

bound form

proudarrogantconceited (bound morpheme)

Easily confused

。
Tā qǔ dé hǎo chéng jì hòu biàn de fēi cháng jiāo ào.
He became very proud after achieving good results.
，。
Tā jiāo ào zì mǎn, tīng bú jìn bié rén de yì jiàn.
He is proud and complacent, unwilling to listen to others' opinions.
“骄”，。
Gǔ rén shuō "jiāo bīng bì bài", wǒ men yào qiān xū.
The ancients said, "An arrogant army is doomed to fail"; we must be humble.

Sound + meaning

六书liùshū

形声xíngshēng

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 驕; 骄 is its simplified writing.

馬喬驕

Meaning part形符xíngfú

馬馬mǎhorse

Sound part声符shēngfú

喬

喬qiáo驕jiāo

Same sound today

The traditional form 驕 pairs 馬 (horse) with 喬 for the sound; the simplified 骄 is a later shorthand.