骂 (mà): to scold
骂 (mà) is a Chinese character meaning “to scold.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (semantic), 口 (semantic) and 马 (phonetic). It ranks #1440 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 骂 mouth. Its radical form 马 (horse) appears in many related characters such as 马 (mǎ, horse), 骑 (qí, to ride), 验 (yàn, to test, to verify).
Definitions
- to scold
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 骂 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 咒骂verb | zhòu mà | to damn |
| 辱骂verb | rǔ mà | to insult |
| 责骂verb | zé mà | to scold |
| 谩骂verb | màn mà | to hurl abuse |
| 破口大骂verb | pò kǒu dà mà | (idiom) to let out a torrent of abuse |
| 骂街verb | mà jiē | to shout abuses in the street |
| 痛骂verb | tòng mà | to bawl out |
| 挨骂verb | ái mà | to receive a scolding |
| 臭骂verb | chòu mà | tongue-lashing |
| 打骂verb | dǎ mà | to beat and scold |
| 骂娘verb | mà niáng | to curse (at sb) |
| 骂名noun | mà míng | infamy |
| 怒骂verb | nù mà | to verbally abuse |
| 嬉笑怒骂phrase | xī xiào nù mà | lit. laughs, jeers, anger and invective (idiom) |
| 对骂verb | duì mà | to trade insults |
骂 appears in 47 compound words: 21 as the first character, 64 as the last, and 15 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 骂 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
merry laughter and angry scolding; (figurative) all kinds of emotions; freely roving; ironic and invective
lit. to point at the chicken while scolding the dog (idiom); fig. to make indirect criticisms
merry laughter and angry scolding; (figurative) all kinds of emotions; freely roving; ironic and invective
Example Sentences
他因为工作失误被老板骂了一顿。
Tā yīnwèi gōngzuò shīwù bèi lǎobǎn mà le yí dùn.
He was scolded by the boss for a work mistake.
...场欲跳楼轻生 男子出手相救反遭对方家属围骂
. . . chǎng yù tiào lóu qīng shēng nán zǐ chū shǒu xiāng jiù fǎn zāo duì fāng jiā shǔ wéi mà
[Translation pending - quota exceeded]
台南2高工生想当网红“炮炸青蛙”网骂翻
tái nán 2 gāo gōng shēng xiǎng dāng wǎng hóng pào zhà qīng wā wǎng mà fān
Tainan 2 senior engineering students want to be Internet celebrities "bombarding frogs" Internet scolding
...屋阿婆走廊水管玩吊单杠!住户恐压爆制止遭骂 网民教这样对付
. . . wū ā pó zǒu láng shuǐ guǎn wán diào dān gàng ! zhù hù kǒng yā bào zhì zhǐ zāo mà wǎng mín jiào zhè yàng duì fù
... The water pipe in the corridor of the house grandmother plays with the horizontal bar! Residents are afraid of being scolded for being scolded, and netizens teach them to deal with it in this way
无照男改车炸街遭拦 不满挨罚+扣车飙国骂!妨害公务送办
wú zhào nán gǎi chē zhà jiē zāo lán bù mǎn āi fá kòu chē biāo guó mà ! fáng hài gōng wù sòng bàn
Unlicensed man modifies car for street racing, gets pulled over. Upset over fine and impounded vehicle, he unleashes a torrent of profanity! Charged with obstruction of official duties.
游欧吃素很难搞?奥客刁难导游被骂翻 达人曝:“这几国”素食超友善
yóu ōu chī sù hěn nán gǎo ? ào kè diāo nán dǎo yóu bèi mà fān dá rén pù zhè jī guó sù shí chāo yǒu shàn
Is it tough to go vegetarian while traveling in Europe? Picky tourists give guides a hard time, sparking backlash. Insider reveals: "These countries" are super vegetarian-friendly.
汤姆被萨米骂了一顿。
Tāngmǔ bèi Sà mǐ mà le yī dùn.
Tom got scolded by Sammy.
你为什么要骂人家？
Nǐ wèishénme yào màrén jiā?
Why do you go about being cross at people?
在小学的时候，她常常被老师骂。
Zài xiǎoxué de shíhou, tā chángcháng bèi lǎoshī mà.
When she was in elementary school, the teacher often scolded her.
老实说，我被我妈妈骂了。
Lǎoshíshuō, wǒ bèi wǒ māma mà le.
To tell you the truth, I've been scolded by my mom.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 骂 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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