恐 (kǒng): afraid, frightened, to fear
恐 (kǒng) is a Chinese character meaning “afraid.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 巩 (phonetic) and 心 (semantic). It ranks #891 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 恐 heart. Its radical form 忄 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忙 (máng, busy), 快 (kuài, fast, happy), 怎 (zěn, how).
Definitions
- afraid
- frightened
- to fear
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 恐 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 恐
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 恐怖 | kǒng bù | terrible |
| 恐吓 | kǒng hè | to threaten |
| 恐慌 | kǒng huāng | panic |
| 恐龙 | kǒng lóng | dinosaur (,隻|只[zhi1]) |
| 恐惧症 | kǒng jù zhèng | phobia |
| 惊恐 | jīng kǒng | to be alarmed |
| 恐怖主义 | kǒng bù zhǔ yì | terrorism |
| 恐怖片 | kǒng bù piàn | horror movie |
| 惶恐 | huáng kǒng | terrified |
| 恐怖症 | kǒng bù zhèng | phobia |
| 唯恐 | wéi kǒng | for fear that |
| 争先恐后 | zhēng xiān kǒng hòu | striving to be first and fearing to be last (idiom) |
| 诚惶诚恐 | chéng huáng chéng kǒng | in fear and trepidation (idiom) |
| 惊恐万状 | jīng kǒng wàn zhuàng | convulsed with fear (idiom) |
| 有恃无恐 | yǒu shì wú kǒng | secure in the knowledge that one has backing |
恐 appears in 66 compound words: 52 as the first character, 18 as the last, and 30 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 恐 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (12)
white terror; White Terror (the suppression of political dissidents in Taiwan by the Kuomintang (1949–1987))
alternative form of 細思恐極 /细思恐极 (xìsīkǒngjí, “The more one thinks about it, the more petrified one becomes.”)
alternative form of 細思恐極 /细思恐极 (xìsīkǒngjí, “The more one thinks about it, the more petrified one becomes.”)
white terror; White Terror (the suppression of political dissidents in Taiwan by the Kuomintang (1949–1987))
Showing 11 of 12 idioms containing 恐.
Example Sentences
他恐高，不敢站在高处往下看。
Tā kǒnggāo, bù gǎn zhàn zài gāo chù wǎng xià kàn.
He is afraid of heights and dare not stand high up and look down.
大便3大變化自測健康 這2種顏色恐患胰臟癌/大腸癌 伴隨3情況須求醫
dà biàn dà 變 huà zì 測 jiàn kāng 這 種 顏 sè kǒng huàn 胰 臟 ái dà 腸 ái bàn 隨 qíng 況 須 qiú 醫
3 Major Stool Changes to Self-Assess Your Health These 2 Colors May Indicate Pancreatic/Colon Cancer Seek Medical Attention If Accompanied by These 3 Symptoms
...年跑攤大吃!35歲上班族腹脹、瀉秘 醫:恐變慢性胃炎
. . . nián pǎo 攤 dà chī ! 歲 shàng bān zú fù 脹 瀉 mì 醫 kǒng 變 màn xìng wèi yán
...Years of Binge Eating! 35-Year-Old Office Worker Suffers from Bloating and Diarrhea and Constipation. Doctor Warns: Risk of Developing Chronic Gastritis
...他法源維持關稅政策 林俊憲:藍白刻意渲染恐慌
. . . tā fǎ yuán 維 chí 關 稅 zhèng cè lín jùn 憲 藍 bái kè yì 渲 rǎn kǒng huāng
...He Fa-yuan maintains tariff policy Lin Jun-hsien: Kuomintang and New Power Party deliberately stoke panic
...工酒駕撞車遭上銬!後座友人「無影腳」推車恐挨罰
. . . gōng jiǔ 駕 zhuàng 車 zāo shàng 銬 ! 後 zuò yǒu rén 無 yǐng 腳 tuī 車 kǒng āi 罰
Worker arrested for drunk driving after crash! Backseat friend faces penalty for "kicking" car to move it
不會痛≠沒事!醫曝2殘酷情況:腫瘤恐「大到頂腹膜」
bù 會 tòng 沒 shì ! 醫 pù 殘 kù qíng 況 腫 liú kǒng dà dào 頂 fù mó
No pain ≠ no problem! Doctor reveals 2 grim scenarios: Tumors may grow "large enough to reach the peritoneum"
川普臨時關稅恐也被推翻?蔡正元指法院敲響政權喪鐘:期中...
chuān pǔ 臨 時 關 稅 kǒng yě bèi tuī fān ? 蔡 zhèng yuán zhǐ fǎ yuàn qiāo 響 zhèng 權 喪 鐘 qī zhōng . . .
Trump's Emergency Tariffs May Also Be Overturned? Tsai Cheng-yuan Says Court Sounds Death Knell for Administration: Midterm...
洗蘋果別直接沖!沒做1事恐釀排水管癱瘓
xǐ 蘋 guǒ 別 zhí jiē 沖 ! 沒 zuò shì kǒng 釀 pái shuǐ guǎn 癱 瘓
When washing apples, don't just rinse them! If you don't do one thing, you could end up with a clogged drain pipe.
高空弹跳是恐怖还是好玩？
Gāokōngtántiào shì kǒngbù háishi hǎowán?
Is bungee jumping frightening or fun?
你有深海恐惧症吗？
Nǐ yǒu shēnhǎi kǒngjùzhèng ma?
Do you have deep sea phobia?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 恐 (kǒng) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 恐 have?
What is the radical of 恐?
What are the components of 恐?
What are common words containing 恐?
What characters sound the same as 恐 (kǒng)?
Is 恐 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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