怖

bù

布 + 忄

Definitions

bù terror; terrified; afraid; frightened

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 布 represents the sound.

Semantic: 忄 Phonetic: 布

About

怖 (bù) is a phono-semantic compound. The heart radical 忄 (xīn) on the left marks the meaning as emotion-related, while the right-side component 布 (bù), which originally means cloth or to spread, provides the pronunciation. The character denotes extreme fear, dread, or terror. In modern Chinese it rarely appears alone, occurring almost exclusively in compounds that describe terrifying situations, horrific events, or the state of being deeply frightened.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

这部电影很恐怖。

Zhè bù diànyǐng hěn kǒngbù.

This movie is very scary.

他感到非常恐怖。

Tā gǎndào fēicháng kǒngbù.

He feels very terrified.

恐怖故事让我睡不着。

Kǒngbù gùshi ràng wǒ shuì bù zháo.

Horror stories make me unable to sleep.

听到那个消息，他恐怖极了。

Tīng dào nàge xiāoxi, tā kǒngbù jíle.

Hearing that news, he was extremely terrified.

那个场景可真可怖。

Nàge chǎngjǐng kě zhēn kěbù.

That scene is really dreadful.

森林里的黑暗令人恐怖。

Sēnlín lǐ de hēi'àn lìng rén kǒngbù.

The darkness in the forest is terrifying.

尽管他外表镇定，内心却充满恐怖。

Jǐnguǎn tā wàibiǎo zhèndìng, nèixīn què chōngmǎn kǒngbù.

Although he appears calm, his heart is full of terror.

对于未知的未来，人们往往会产生一种莫名的恐怖。

Duìyú wèizhī de wèilái, rénmen wǎngwǎng huì chǎnshēng yī zhǒng mòmíng de kǒngbù.

Regarding the unknown future, people often generate an inexplicable terror.

Related Characters

Component: 布

Component: 忄

怖