駭 meaning and stroke order
To terrify, to shock, to frighten
How to write 駭, 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 駭
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to astonish
- to startle
- to hack (computing, loanword)
How 駭 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Horse.
馬 gives the meaning and 亥 hints at the sound.
Radical: 馬 (horse), shared by 47 characters on this site.
How to remember 駭
駭 is a horse 馬 (mǎ) next to 亥 (hài), which gives the sound. Picture a horse that rears up in fright, and you have the meaning: to startle or shock.
駭 (simplified 骇) rarely stands alone in modern speech. It appears in set words like 骇人 (hàirén, terrifying) and the idiom 骇人听闻 (hàiréntīngwén, shocking to hear). Example: 这是一起骇人听闻的案件。(Zhè shì yì qǐ hàiréntīngwén de ànjiàn.) This is a shocking case.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 駭 with 該 (gāi, should), which shares the 亥 part but has the speech radical 言. Look at the left side: a horse means shock, speech means should.
Common words with 駭
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 駭
How many strokes are in 駭?
駭 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 駭 mean?
駭 (hài) means to terrify, to shock, to frighten. A common word with it is 骇人听闻 (hàiréntīngwén), meaning "shocking; horrifying".
How do you pronounce 駭?
駭 is pronounced hài, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 駭?
The radical of 駭 is 馬, which carries the idea of "horse". Dictionaries list 駭 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 駭?
駭 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 骇, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why does 骇客 mean hacker?
骇客 (hàikè) is a sound loan from English hacker. The character 骇 was chosen because it sounds like hack and also suggests causing alarm. It often implies a malicious hacker, while 黑客 (hēikè) is the more common general word.
How is 骇 different from 吓 (xià)?
吓 (xià) is the everyday word for scaring someone, as in 吓了我一跳 (xià le wǒ yí tiào, it gave me a fright). 骇 is more formal and literary, and it mostly appears in fixed words like 骇人 or 惊骇 (jīnghài, alarmed).