The Chinese word **懊悔** (àohuǐ, meaning "deep regret" or "remorse") is a compound formed by combining two semantically similar characters: **懊** conveys a sense of distress, annoyance, or vexation, often from a past action, while **悔** specifically means regret, repentance, or remorse. Together, they create a nuanced, emphatic term where **懊** intensifies the emotional turmoil and **悔** specifies the core feeling of regret, resulting in a meaning stronger than either character alone—denoting a profound, lingering sorrow over a mistake or missed opportunity. This structure exemplifies a common pattern in Chinese lexicon formation where synonymous or related morphemes are paired to reinforce and refine a shared conceptual meaning.