惹 (rě): to provoke, to irritate, to vex
惹 (rě) is a Chinese character meaning “to provoke.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 若 (phonetic) and 心 (semantic). It ranks #2216 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 惹 heart. Its radical form 忄 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忙 (máng, busy), 快 (kuài, fast, happy), 怎 (zěn, how).
Definitions
- to provoke
- to irritate
- to vex
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 惹 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 惹麻烦 | rě má fan | to create difficulties |
| 惹火 | rě huǒ | to stir up the fire |
| 惹恼 | rě nǎo | to offend |
| 招惹 | zhāo rě | to court (trouble) |
| 惹事 | rě shì | to cause trouble |
| 惹祸 | rě huò | to stir up trouble |
| 不好惹 | bù hǎo rě | not to be trifled with |
| 惹是生非 | rě shì shēng fēi | to stir up trouble |
| 惹事生非 | rě shì shēng fēi | variant of 惹是生非[re3 shi4 sheng1 fei1] |
| 惹不起 | rě bu qǐ | can't afford to offend |
| 惹人注意 | rě rén zhù yì | to attract attention |
| 日惹特区 | rì rě tè qū | Special Region of Yogyakarta, region of Java, Indonesia |
| 惹人注目 | rě rén zhù mù | to attract attention |
| 惹是非 | rě shì fēi | to stir up trouble |
| 妈惹法克 | mā rě fǎ kè | motherfucker (loanword) |
惹 appears in 39 compound words: 62 as the first character, 21 as the last, and 18 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 惹 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (10)
to fondle the flowers and trample the grass (idiom); to womanize; to frequent brothels
to fondle the flowers and trample the grass (idiom); to womanize; to frequent brothels
Example Sentences
听到这个好消息，她惹里充满了喜悦。
yǐn dào zhè gě hǎo xiāo xī , tā rě lǐ chōng mǎn le xǐ yuè .
Upon hearing this good news, she was filled with joy.
年后猪价重挫非美猪惹祸?养猪协会:与进口猪有关
nián hòu zhū jià chóng cuò fēi měi zhū rě huò ? yǎng zhū xié huì : yǔ jìn kǒu zhū yǒu guān
After the year, pig prices plummeted, and non-American pigs caused trouble? Pig Breeding Association: Related to imported pigs
...8字贴文挺尹锡悦掀论战、逸祥探望山猪父母惹泪
. . . 8 zì tiē wén tǐng 尹 xī yuè xiān lùn zhàn , yì xiáng tàn wàng shān zhū fù mǔ rě lèi
... The 8-word post supported Yoon Suk-yue's debate, and Yixiang's visit to the parents of the wild boar caused tears
上水“怪兽仓”两幼犬被困笼内 一狗断尾惹乌蝇 区议员联络仓主无果报警求助
shàng shuǐ guài shòu cāng liǎng yòu quǎn bèi kùn lóng nèi yī gǒu duàn wěi rě wū yíng qū yì yuán lián lào cāng zhǔ wú guǒ bào jǐng qiú zhù
Two puppies were trapped in the cage of the "monster warehouse" in Sheung Shui, and a dog had its tail cut off and provoked flies
...足以燎原!永康营业场所角落起火 乱丢菸蒂惹祸
. . . zú yǐ 燎 yuán ! yǒng kāng yíng yè chǎng suǒ jiǎo luò qǐ huǒ luàn diū 菸 dì rě huò
... Enough to set fire to the plains! A fire broke out in the corner of Yongkang's business premises, and littering cigarette butts caused trouble
丹尼尔没想惹阿曼达生气的。
Dānní'ěr méi xiǎng rě āmàn dá shēngqì de.
Daniel didn't mean to upset Amanda.
你做了什么事把汤姆惹哭了？
Nǐ zuò le shénme shì bǎ Tāngmǔ rě kū le?
What did you do to make Tom cry?
我说的话惹到你了吗？
Wǒ shuō dehuà rě dào nǐ le ma?
Are you angry at what I said?
他脾气这么坏，早晚会惹麻烦。
Tā píqi zhème huài, zǎowǎn huì rěmáfan.
His quick temper will get him in trouble one day.
我很抱歉给你惹来所有的这些麻烦。
Wǒ hěn bàoqiàn gěi nǐ rě lái suǒyǒu de zhèxiē máfan.
I'm sorry to cause you all this trouble.
Character Family
Homophones — Characters pronounced rě
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 惹 (rě) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 惹 and 匿?
How many strokes does 惹 have?
What is the radical of 惹?
What are the components of 惹?
What are common words containing 惹?
What characters sound the same as 惹 (rě)?
Is 惹 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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