怒 meaning and stroke order
Anger, passion, rage
How to write 怒, stroke by stroke
9 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 怒
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- anger
- fury
- flourishing
- vigorous
How 怒 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Heart.
心 gives the meaning and 奴 hints at the sound.
Radical: 心 (heart), shared by 97 characters on this site.
How to remember 怒
怒 (nù) is 奴 (nú, slave) on top of 心 (xīn, heart). 奴 gives the sound and 心 gives the meaning, so picture a heart pushed down under a slave's burden until it boils over into anger.
怒 is rarely used alone in everyday speech. It usually appears in words like 愤怒 (fènnù, angry) and 发怒 (fānù, to get angry), or in written phrases like 怒火 (nùhuǒ, rage). Example: 他的话让我很愤怒。(Tā de huà ràng wǒ hěn fènnù.) What he said made me very angry.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 怒 (nù) with 努 (nǔ, to strive) because both have 奴 on top. 怒 has 心 (heart) at the bottom and means anger, while 努 has 力 (strength) and appears in 努力 (nǔlì, to work hard). Watch the tones too: fourth tone for 怒, third tone for 努.
Common words with 怒
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 愤怒 | fènnù | angry; indignant | HSK 6 |
| 发怒 | fānù | to get angry | HSK 6 |
| 恼羞成怒 | nǎoxiū-chéngnù | (idiom) to become enraged over a perceived humiliation | HSK 7-9 |
| 喜怒哀乐 | xǐ-nù-āi-lè | (lit.) happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy (idiom); (fig.) emotions | HSK 7-9 |
| 激怒 | jīnù | to infuriate; to enrage | |
| 怒火 | nùhuǒ | rage; fury | |
| 怒吼 | nùhǒu | to bellow; to rave | |
| 惹怒 | rěnù | to provoke anger | |
| 怒气 | nùqì | anger | |
| 暴怒 | bàonù | to fly into a rage; to rage violently | |
| 喜怒无常 | xǐnùwúcháng | temperamental; moody | |
| 狂怒 | kuángnù | furious | |
| 恼怒 | nǎonù | resentful; angry | |
| 息怒 | xīnù | to calm down; to quell one's anger |
怒 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 怒
How many strokes are in 怒?
怒 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 怒 mean?
怒 (nù) means anger, passion, rage. A common word with it is 愤怒 (fènnù), meaning "angry; indignant".
How do you pronounce 怒?
怒 is pronounced nù, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 怒?
The radical of 怒 is 心, which carries the idea of "heart". Dictionaries list 怒 under this radical.
Is 怒 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 怒 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can I say 我很怒 to mean I am angry?
Not usually. In conversation people say 我很生气 (wǒ hěn shēngqì) or, for stronger feeling, 我很愤怒 (wǒ hěn fènnù). 怒 alone sounds literary.
What does 怒 mean in 心花怒放?
Here 怒 uses its sense of flourishing or vigorous. 心花怒放 (xīnhuā nùfàng) means the flowers of the heart burst into bloom, so someone is overjoyed, not angry.