噪 meaning and stroke order
To be noisy; to chirp loudly
How to write 噪, stroke by stroke
16 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 噪
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (literary) (of birds or insects) to chirp
- (bound form) to make a cacophonous noise
- variant of 噪[zao4]
How 噪 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. The sound 口 of birds chirping 喿; 喿 also provides the pronunciation.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 噪
喿 shows three little mouths 品 above a tree 木, like a tree full of birds all chirping at once. Add another mouth 口 on the left and you get 噪 (zào), a loud, noisy racket.
In modern Chinese 噪 rarely stands alone. It mostly appears in words like 噪音 (zàoyīn) and 噪声 (zàoshēng), both meaning unwanted noise. Example: 楼下的噪音太大了。(Lóu xià de zàoyīn tài dà le.) The noise downstairs is too loud.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 噪 with 燥 (zào, dry), 躁 (zào, restless) and 澡 (zǎo, bath), which all share 喿. Remember that only 噪 has the mouth 口, because noise comes from mouths. Also note that 澡 is third tone while 噪 is fourth tone.
Common words with 噪
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
噪 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 噪
How many strokes are in 噪?
噪 is written with 16 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 噪 mean?
噪 (zào) means to be noisy; to chirp loudly. A common word with it is 噪音 (zàoyīn), meaning "rumble; noise".
How do you pronounce 噪?
噪 is pronounced zào, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 噪?
The radical of 噪 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 噪 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 噪?
The traditional form of 噪 is 譟. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 噪 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 噪 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 噪 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 噪音 and 噪声?
They mean almost the same thing. 噪声 (zàoshēng) is more common in technical or scientific contexts, such as 噪声污染 (noise pollution). 噪音 (zàoyīn) is more common in everyday speech.
Is 噪 used in any idioms?
Yes. A well-known one is 名噪一时 (míng zào yì shí), meaning to be famous for a while. Here 噪 keeps its older sense of making a loud sound, as if a name is being shouted everywhere.