唬

hǔ

口 + 虎

Definitions

hǔ (verb) to scare; to intimidate

hǔ (verb) to fool; to bluff

hǔ (noun) tiger's roar

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 虎 represents the sound.

Semantic: 口 Phonetic: 虎

About

The character 唬 combines the mouth radical 口 on the left with 虎 (tiger) on the right to create a phono-semantic compound. 口 indicates an action involving vocalization, while 虎 supplies the sound hǔ and suggests the ferocity of a tiger. This structure evokes a tiger's loud roar, and from this, the meaning extended to the human act of bluffing, frightening, or intimidating through aggressive, loud, threatening speech.

Etymology Hide

Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)

Bronze Mid Western Zhou (~900 BC)

Bronze Late Spring and Autumn (~500 BC)

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

你别吓唬小孩子。

Nǐ bié xiàhu xiǎo háizi.

Don't scare the child.

他喜欢吓唬别人。

Tā xǐhuān xiàhu biérén.

He likes to scare others.

你别用鬼故事唬我。

Nǐ bié yòng guǐ gùshi hǔ wǒ.

Don't scare me with ghost stories.

这种话唬不了我。

Zhè zhǒng huà hǔ bù liǎo wǒ.

Such words can't bluff me.

他试图唬住我们，但我们不怕。

Tā shìtú hǔ zhù wǒmen, dàn wǒmen bù pà.

He tried to intimidate us, but we are not afraid.

他的威胁只是唬人的把戏。

Tā de wēixié zhǐshì hǔ rén de bǎxì.

His threat is just a bluffing trick.

昨天他唬我说考试很难。

Zuótiān tā hǔ wǒ shuō kǎoshì hěn nán.

Yesterday he bluffed me by saying the exam was very difficult.

尽管他竭力唬我们，我们却毫不动摇。

Jǐnguǎn tā jiélì hǔ wǒmen, wǒmen què háo bù dòngyáo.

Even though he tried his best to intimidate us, we did not waver at all.

Related Characters

Component: 口

Component: 虎

唬