怖 (bù): terror, terrified, afraid
怖 (bù) is a Chinese character meaning “terror.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 忄 (semantic) and 布 (phonetic). It ranks #1759 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 怖 heart. Its radical form 忄 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忙 (máng, busy), 快 (kuài, fast, happy), 怎 (zěn, how).
Definitions
- terror
- terrified
- afraid
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 怖 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 恐怖adjective | kǒng bù | terrible |
| 恐怖主义noun | kǒng bù zhǔ yì | terrorism |
| 恐怖片noun | kǒng bù piàn | horror movie |
| 恐怖症noun | kǒng bù zhèng | phobia |
| 生物恐怖主义 | shēng wù kǒng bù zhǔ yì | bioterrorism |
| 恐怖主义者noun | kǒng bù zhǔ yì zhě | terrorist |
| 恐怖分子noun | kǒng bù fèn zǐ | variant of 恐怖分子 |
| 基地恐怖组织 | jī dì kǒng bù zǔ zhī | Al-Qaeda |
| 白色恐怖noun | bái sè kǒng bù | White Terror |
| 恐怖片儿noun | kǒng bù piān r | erhua variant of 恐怖片 |
| 恐怖电影noun | kǒng bù diàn yǐng | horror movie |
| 恐怖组织noun | kǒng bù zǔ zhī | terrorist organization |
| 广场恐怖症 | guǎng chǎng kǒng bù zhèng | agoraphobia |
| 恐怖袭击noun | kǒng bù xí jī | terrorist attack |
| 惊怖noun | jīng bù | to surprise |
怖 appears in 16 compound words: 0 as the first character, 19 as the last, and 81 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 怖 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
white terror; White Terror (the suppression of political dissidents in Taiwan by the Kuomintang (1949–1987))
white terror; White Terror (the suppression of political dissidents in Taiwan by the Kuomintang (1949–1987))
Example Sentences
这件事让我怖烦意乱，整夜都没有睡好。
zhè jiàn shì ràng wǒ bù fán yì luàn , zhěng yè dū méi yǒu shuì hǎo .
This matter has left me troubled and restless, unable to sleep well all night.
恐怖女婿细故掌掴岳母、钉死房门禁锢还放火企图...
kǒng bù nǚ xù xì gù zhǎng 掴 yuè mǔ , dīng sǐ fáng mén jīn 锢 hái fàng huǒ qǐ tú . . .
A terrifying son-in-law slapped his mother-in-law over a trivial matter, nailed the door shut to lock her in, and even set a fire in an attempt to...
...!限制男友门禁“晚1分钟就发飙” 遭指恐怖情人
. . . ! xiàn zhì nán yǒu mén jīn wǎn 1 fēn zhōng jiù fā biāo zāo zhǐ kǒng bù qíng rén
...! Girlfriend who imposes curfew on boyfriend—"flips out if he's even a minute late"—accused of being a "toxic partner"
分析家警告 伊朗可能在美国发动恐怖攻击报复
fēn xī jiā jǐng gào yī lǎng kě néng zài měi guó fā dòng kǒng bù gōng jī bào fù
Analysts warn that Iran may retaliate with a terrorist attack in the United States
伊朗在该国东南部摧毁一恐怖组织团伙
yī lǎng zài gāi guó dōng nán bù cuī huǐ yī kǒng bù zǔ zhī tuán huǒ
Iran destroyed a terrorist group in the southeast of the country
挑战恐怖片极限尺度!《墓乃伊》皮肤指甲扭曲变形 ...
tiāo zhàn kǒng bù piàn jí xiàn chǐ dù ! mù nǎi yī pí fū zhǐ jiǎ niǔ qū biàn xíng . . .
Challenge the limits of horror movies! "Tomb Nai" skin and nails are twisted and deformed...
仙台地震的结果很恐怖。
Xiāntái dìzhèn de jiéguǒ hěn kǒngbù.
The consequences of Sendai's earthquake were dreadful!
恐怖的场面让了他颤抖。
Kǒngbù de chǎngmiàn ràng le tā chàndǒu.
He shuddered at the terrible scene.
高空弹跳是恐怖还是好玩？
Gāokōngtántiào shì kǒngbù háishi hǎowán?
Is bungee jumping frightening or fun?
我痛恨恐怖主义组织。
Wǒ tònghèn kǒngbùzhǔyì zǔzhī.
I hate terrorist organizations.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 忄 (heart) component
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 怖 (bù)?
Is 怖 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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