恐 meaning and stroke order
Fearful, apprehensive; to fear, to dread
How to write 恐, stroke by stroke
10 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
Meaning of 恐
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- afraid
- frightened
- to fear
How 恐 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Heart.
心 gives the meaning and 巩 hints at the sound.
Radical: 心 (heart), shared by 97 characters on this site.
How to remember 恐
恐 is a pictophonetic character: 巩 (gǒng) on top gives the sound, and 心 (xīn, heart) below gives the meaning. Picture something pressing down on your heart until it trembles with fear.
恐 rarely stands alone in modern speech. It appears in words like 恐怕 (kǒngpà), 恐怖 (kǒngbù) and 恐惧 (kǒngjù). The most common everyday word is 恐怕, which often softens a statement to mean "I'm afraid that" or "probably": 恐怕他今天不来了。(Kǒngpà tā jīntiān bù lái le.) I'm afraid he won't come today.
Common mistake: Learners often write the bottom as 心 squeezed too flat, or confuse the top 巩 with 工 plus 几 written separately. It is also easy to mix up 恐 (kǒng) with 怕 (pà). Both mean fear, but 怕 is the everyday verb, while 恐 mostly lives inside compounds.
Common words with 恐
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 恐怕 | kǒngpà | fear; to dread | HSK 3 |
| 恐怖 | kǒngbù | terrible; frightful | HSK 7-9 |
| 恐惧 | kǒngjù | fear; dread; to fear; to dread | HSK 7-9 |
| 恐慌 | kǒnghuāng | panic; panicky | HSK 7-9 |
| 恐龙 | kǒnglóng | dinosaur (CL:頭|头[tou2],隻|只[zhi1]); (old) (slang) ugly person | HSK 7-9 |
| 恐吓 | kǒnghè | to threaten; to menace | HSK 7-9 |
| 争先恐后 | zhēngxiān-kǒnghòu | (idiom) to compete to be first; to scramble to get ahead; to rush forward for fear of fall | HSK 7-9 |
| 恐怖分子 | kǒngbùfènzǐ | terrorist | |
| 恐怖主义 | kǒngbùzhǔyì | terrorism | |
| 恐怖袭击 | kǒngbùxíjī | terrorist attack | |
| 反恐 | fǎnkǒng | anti-terrorism; to fight against terrorism | |
| 恐惧症 | kǒngjùzhèng | phobia | |
| 惊恐 | jīngkǒng | to be alarmed; to be frightened | |
| 恐怖组织 | kǒngbùzǔzhī | terrorist organization |
恐 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 恐
How many strokes are in 恐?
恐 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 恐 mean?
恐 (kǒng) means fearful, apprehensive; to fear, to dread. A common word with it is 恐怕 (kǒngpà), meaning "fear; to dread".
How do you pronounce 恐?
恐 is pronounced kǒng, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 恐?
The radical of 恐 is 心, which carries the idea of "heart". Dictionaries list 恐 under this radical.
Is 恐 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 恐 is part of the HSK 3 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
Does 恐怕 always mean someone is scared?
No. 恐怕 often just expresses a polite guess, like "probably" or "I'm afraid that." 恐怕要下雨了 (kǒngpà yào xià yǔ le) means "It will probably rain," with no real fear involved.
Why does 恐龙 (dinosaur) use the character for fear?
恐龙 literally means "terrible dragon." Here 恐 carries the sense of something frightening. In older slang, 恐龙 was also used jokingly to call someone ugly.