恼 meaning and stroke order
Angry, wrathful
How to write 恼, 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 恼
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to get angry
How 恼 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Heart.
忄 gives the meaning.
Radical: 忄 (heart), shared by 167 characters on this site.
How to remember 恼
The heart radical 忄 on the left shows this is a feeling. On the right, 亠 sits like a lid over 凶 (xiōng, fierce), so picture a fierce feeling trapped under a lid in your heart until you get angry.
恼 is rarely used alone in modern speech. It mostly appears in words like 烦恼 (fánnǎo, worries) and 恼火 (nǎohuǒ, annoyed), and in 惹恼 (rěnǎo, to make someone angry). Example: 他总是迟到，让我很恼火。(Tā zǒngshì chídào, ràng wǒ hěn nǎohuǒ.) He is always late, which really annoys me.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 恼 (nǎo) with 脑 (nǎo, brain), which has the same sound and right side but uses the flesh radical 月. Remember that anger comes from the heart 忄, while the brain is a body part 月.
Common words with 恼
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
恼 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 恼
How many strokes are in 恼?
恼 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 恼 mean?
恼 (nǎo) means angry, wrathful. A common word with it is 烦恼 (fánnǎo), meaning "to be worried; to be distressed".
How do you pronounce 恼?
恼 is pronounced nǎo, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 恼?
The radical of 恼 is 忄, which carries the idea of "heart". Dictionaries list 恼 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 恼?
The traditional form of 恼 is 惱. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 恼 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 恼 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 恼 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 烦恼 and 苦恼?
烦恼 (fánnǎo) is the everyday word for worries or troubles and is often a noun, as in 没有烦恼 (no worries). 苦恼 (kǔnǎo) stresses feeling distressed or stuck over a problem and usually describes a person's state.
What does 恼羞成怒 mean and when is it used?
恼羞成怒 (nǎoxiū-chéngnù) describes someone who gets angry because they feel embarrassed or exposed. It is often used when a person is caught out or criticized and reacts with anger instead of admitting the problem.