悚 meaning and stroke order
Scared, frightened
How to write 悚, 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.
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Meaning of 悚
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- frightened
How 悚 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Heart.
忄 gives the meaning and 束 hints at the sound.
Radical: 忄 (heart), shared by 167 characters on this site.
How to remember 悚
The heart radical 忄 sits beside 束 (shù), which gives the sound and means to bind or tie up. Picture fear tying your heart in a tight knot, and you have 悚 (sǒng), frightened.
悚 rarely appears alone in modern Chinese. You mostly meet it in set words like 惊悚 (jīngsǒng, thrilling, horror) and the idiom 毛骨悚然. Example: 这部惊悚片让我毛骨悚然。(Zhè bù jīngsǒng piàn ràng wǒ máogǔsǒngrán.) This thriller made my blood run cold.
Common mistake: Learners often read 悚 as shù because of the phonetic part 束, but the correct reading is sǒng in the third tone. Also do not confuse it with 竦 (sǒng), which has 立 on the left and means to stand at attention or to stand in awe.
Common words with 悚
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 毛骨悚然 | máogǔsǒngrán | to have one's hair stand on end (idiom); to feel one's blood run cold |
Questions about 悚
How many strokes are in 悚?
悚 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 悚 mean?
悚 (sǒng) means scared, frightened. A common word with it is 毛骨悚然 (máogǔsǒngrán), meaning "to have one's hair stand on end (idiom); to feel one's blood run cold".
How do you pronounce 悚?
悚 is pronounced sǒng, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 悚?
The radical of 悚 is 忄, which carries the idea of "heart". Dictionaries list 悚 under this radical.
What does 惊悚 mean and where is it used?
惊悚 (jīngsǒng) means thrilling or horrifying. It is the standard word for the thriller genre, as in 惊悚片 (jīngsǒng piàn, thriller film) or 惊悚小说 (jīngsǒng xiǎoshuō, thriller novel).
Can I say 我很悚 to mean I am scared?
No, that sounds wrong to native speakers. In everyday speech say 我很害怕 (wǒ hěn hàipà) or 我吓坏了 (wǒ xià huài le), and keep 悚 for fixed words like 惊悚 and 毛骨悚然.