躁 (zào): impatient, hot-tempered

躁 (zào) is a Chinese character meaning “impatient.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 足 (semantic) and 喿 (phonetic). It ranks #2370 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 躁 foot. Its radical form 足 (foot) appears in many related characters such as 跑 (pǎo, to run), 跟 (gēn, follow, heel), 路 (lù, road).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. impatient
  2. hot-tempered

Etymology & Origin

躁

pictophoneticfoot

Decomposition: ⿰足喿 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

Practice writing 躁 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
暴躁adjectivebào zàoirascible
烦躁adjectivefán zàojittery
急躁adjectivejí zàoirritable
狂躁nounkuáng zàorash
焦躁adjectivejiāo zàofretful
躁动verbzào dòngto stir restlessly
浮躁adjectivefú zàofickle and impatient
躁狂症nounzào kuáng zhèngmania
少安无躁shǎo ān wú zàovariant of 少安毋躁
心烦气躁xīn fán qì zàoagitated
少安毋躁shǎo ān wú zàokeep calm, don't get excited
大肠激躁症dà cháng jī zào zhèngirritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
稍安毋躁shāo ān wú zàovariant of 少安毋躁
躁热zào rèuncomfortably hot
稍安勿躁phraseshāo ān wù zàovariant of 少安毋躁
20
Total compounds
30
As first character
65
As last character
5
As middle character

躁 appears in 20 compound words: 30 as the first character, 65 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 躁 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

脾pí
0.7041,150 co-occurrences
暴bào
0.5772,914 co-occurrences
烦fán
0.554326 co-occurrences
焦jiāo
0.535804 co-occurrences
狂kuáng
0.533894 co-occurrences
浮fú
0.524836 co-occurrences
急jí
0.4911,078 co-occurrences
症zhèng
0.473706 co-occurrences
怒nù
0.443312 co-occurrences
郁yù
0.420120 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (4)

戒骄戒躁jiè jiāo jiè zàoHSK 7+

to guard against pride and impatience (idiom); to remain modest and keep cool

phrase
稍安勿躁shāo'ān wùzàoHSK 7+

synonym of 少安勿躁 (shǎo'ān wùzào)

phrase
少安无躁shǎo ān wú zàoHSK 7+

variant of 少安毋躁

phrase
少安毋躁shǎo ān wú zàoHSK 7+

keep calm, don't get excited; don't be impatient

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

躁字由20笔画组成,结构很巧妙。

zào zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .

The character "躁" consists of 20 strokes and features a remarkably ingenious structure.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

这类人群常会出现五心烦热、心烦易躁、盗汗等症状。

zhè lèi rén qún cháng huì chū xiàn wǔ xīn fán rè , xīn fán yì zào , dào hàn děng zhèng zhuàng .

People in this group often experience symptoms such as heat in the palms and soles, restlessness, and night sweats.

東方日報Apr 2026

巴基汉田湾邨因躁音问题遭斩伤手 追缉两黑汉

bā jī hàn tián wān 邨 yīn zào yīn wèn tí zāo zhǎn shāng shǒu zhuī jī liǎng hēi hàn

Man Slashed in Bak Han Tin Wan Estate Over Noise Dispute; Police Hunt for Two Suspects

東方日報Apr 2026

深水埗食环职员执法遭推跌 躁汉逃走前喝斥“你搵啲痰畀我睇吓!”

shēn shuǐ 埗 shí huán zhí yuán zhí fǎ zāo tuī diē zào hàn táo zǒu qián hē chì nǐ 搵 啲 tán 畀 wǒ 睇 hè !

A food and environmental hygiene officer in Sham Shui Po was pushed to the ground while enforcing the law; before fleeing, the agitated man shouted, “Go find some spit and show it to me!”

99 健康网Apr 2026

一边做饭一边狂躁的心理原因:压力、环境与认知的隐形战场

yī biān zuò fàn yī biān kuáng zào de xīn lǐ yuán yīn : yā lì , huán jìng yǔ rèn zhī de yǐn xíng zhàn chǎng

The Psychological Reasons Behind Feeling Irritable While Cooking: The Invisible Battle Between Stress, Environment, and Cognition

TvbsMar 2026

影音/从躁动到沉稳!叶欣眉练拳5年首战败 悟出“害...

yǐng yīn cóng zào dòng dào chén wěn ! xié xīn méi liàn quán 5 nián shǒu zhàn bài wù chū hài . . .

Video/From Restlessness to Composure! Ye Xinmei Suffers First Defeat After 5 Years of Training, Realizing "The Harm..."

Tatoeba

汤姆是个脾气暴躁的老人。

Tāngmǔ shì ge píqi bàozào de lǎorén.

Tom is a grumpy old man.

Tatoeba

他早上总是有点脾气暴躁。

Tā zǎoshang zǒngshì yǒudiǎn píqi bàozào.

He is always a little irritable in the morning.

Tatoeba

不要让自己因为一些小事而烦躁了。

Bù yào ràng zìjǐ yīnwèi yīxiē xiǎoshì ér fánzào le.

Stop getting yourself worked up over little things.

Tatoeba

某些动物烦躁不安, 可能是地震临震前的预兆。

Mǒuxiē dòngwù fánzào bù ān, kěnéng shì dìzhèn lín zhèn qián de yùzhào.

Agitated activity by certain animals may be a sign of an impending earthquake.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 足 (foot) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced zào

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 躁 (zào) mean in Chinese?
躁 (zào) primarily means "impatient." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2370 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 躁 and 操?
躁 (zào) and 操 (cāo) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 足 vs 扌 (same 喿 component).
How many strokes does 躁 have?
躁 is written with 20 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 躁?
The radical associated with 躁 is 足 (foot). This radical appears in many characters related to foot.
What are the components of 躁?
躁 is composed of: 足 (semantic), 喿 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰足喿 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 躁?
Common words with 躁 include: 暴躁 (bào zào, "irascible"); 烦躁 (fán zào, "jittery"); 急躁 (jí zào, "irritable"); 狂躁 (kuáng zào, "rash"); 焦躁 (jiāo zào, "fretful"). There are over 20 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 躁 (zào)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zào: 澡 (bath), 燥 (dry), 造 (to make, to build), 早 (early, morning), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 躁 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 躁 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 躁 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.