吓 (hè): to scare, to intimidate, to threaten
吓 (hè) is a Chinese character meaning “to scare.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (semantic) and 下 (phonetic). It ranks #1457 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 吓 mouth. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).
Definitions
- to scare
- to intimidate
- to threaten
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 吓 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 吓坏 | xià huài | to be terrified |
| 吓人 | xià rén | to scare |
| 恐吓 | kǒng hè | to threaten |
| 吓唬 | xià hu | to scare |
| 惊吓 | jīng xià | to frighten |
| 吓倒 | xià dǎo | to be frightened |
| 威吓 | wēi hè | to threaten |
| 恫吓 | dòng hè | to intimidate |
| 文攻武吓 | wén gōng wǔ hè | (idiom) (of a nation) to denounce and threaten with military force |
| 吓一跳 | xià yī tiào | startled |
| 吓得发抖 | xià dé fā dǒu | to tremble with fear |
| 吓吓叫 | xià xià jiào | (Tw) impressive (from Taiwanese 削削叫, Tai-lo pr. [siah-siah-kiò]) |
| 吓跑 | xià pǎo | to scare away |
| 吓破胆 | xià pò dǎn | to be scared out of one's wits |
| 阻吓 | zǔ hè | to deter |
吓 appears in 19 compound words: 63 as the first character, 32 as the last, and 5 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 吓 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
突然响起的雷声吓了我一跳。
Tūrán xiǎng qǐ de léishēng xià le wǒ yī tiào.
The sudden thunder startled me.
侯佩岑颜值升级捱酸 “五官变形”吓窒网友
侯 pèi 岑 yán zhí shēng jí 捱 suān wǔ guān biàn xíng hè zhì wǎng yǒu
Patty Hou's appearance upgraded and suffered from acid "facial features deformation" to scare netizens
吓死了!新西兰航空客机在飞行途中发现,挡风...
hè sǐ le ! xīn xī lán háng kōng kè jī zài fēi háng tú zhōng fā xiàn , dǎng fēng . . .
[Translation pending - quota exceeded]
惊吓画面|12岁女童跌出滑雪缆车吊挂8米高空...
jīng hè huà miàn suì nǚ tóng diē chū huá xuě lǎn chē diào guà mǐ gāo kōng . . .
Shocking picture|12-year-old girl fell out of the ski lift and hung 8 meters in the air...
文攻武吓 纽时:川普拟分2阶段攻伊朗
wén gōng wǔ hè niǔ shí : chuān pǔ nǐ fēn 2 jiē duàn gōng yī lǎng
Cultural attack and military intimidation New York Times: Trump plans to attack Iran in two stages
法国潮牌熨燶白裇衫卖8884港元吓亲人 网民笑:阿妈都整过一件|网上热话
fǎ guó cháo pái 熨 燶 bái 裇 shān mài gǎng yuán hè qīn rén wǎng mín xiào ā mā dōu zhěng guò yī jiàn wǎng shàng rè huà
French streetwear brand's "scorched white shirt" sells for HK$8,884, shocking relatives Netizens laugh: "Even my mom made one" | Hot online topic
汤姆似乎没有被吓到。
Tāngmǔ sìhū méiyǒu bèi xià dào.
Tom didn't seem to be intimidated.
汤姆以为玛丽被吓到了。
Tāngmǔ yǐwéi Mǎlì bèi xià dào le.
Tom thought Mary was surprised.
卡尔没想吓唬阿米利亚的。
Kǎ'ěr méi xiǎng xiàhu ā mǐ lì yà de.
Karl didn't mean to scare Amelia.
该死的！你吓死我了！
Gāisǐ de! nǐ xià sǐ wǒ le!
Shit! You scared me half to death!
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 吓 (hè) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 吓 and 虾?
How many strokes does 吓 have?
What is the radical of 吓?
What are the components of 吓?
What are common words containing 吓?
What characters sound the same as 吓 (hè)?
Is 吓 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 吓 with real-time feedback
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