Meaning of 吵
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- noisy; loud
- to quarrel; to argue
- used in 吵吵[chao1 chao5]
- Taiwan pr. [chao3]
How to use 吵
As an adjective, 吵 describes a place or sound that is too loud. As a verb, it means to argue or to disturb someone with noise. Example: 外面太吵了，我睡不着。(Wàimiàn tài chǎo le, wǒ shuì bu zháo.) It is too noisy outside, I can't sleep.
吵 is made of 口 (mouth) and 少 (shǎo, few). Think of it this way: even a few mouths talking at once can make a room noisy, and 少 also hints at the sound, since 少 (shǎo) and 吵 (chǎo) rhyme.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 吵 (chǎo) with 炒 (chǎo, to stir-fry), which sounds the same but has 火 (fire) instead of 口 (mouth). Also, 吵 alone as "to quarrel" sounds incomplete in many sentences, so people usually say 吵架 (chǎojià), as in 他们又吵架了 (They argued again).
吵 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
吵 chǎo · noisy · 7 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 吵.
Questions about 吵
What does 吵 mean?
吵 (chǎo) means "noisy; loud; to quarrel; to argue" and is used as a adjective and verb.
How do you write 吵?
吵 is made of 1 character: 吵 (7 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 吵 an HSK word?
Yes. 吵 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 吵 and 闹 (nào)?
Both can mean noisy, but 吵 focuses on sound that bothers you, while 闹 suggests lively commotion or making a fuss. They often combine as 吵闹 (chǎonào), meaning noisy and raucous.
How do I tell someone they are being too loud or ask them not to disturb me?
You can say 别吵了 (bié chǎo le), meaning stop making noise. To say someone woke you up, use 吵醒, as in 你把我吵醒了 (nǐ bǎ wǒ chǎoxǐng le), you woke me up.