How to say “scare” in Chinese
scare, frighten
“Scare” in Chinese is 吓, xià: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
吓 is read xià. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On the left, 口 “mouth”; on the right, 下 xià hints at the reading.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “吓”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 吓. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 不查不知道，一查吓一跳。bùchábùzhīdào,yìcháxiàyítiàoYou don't know until you check, and once you check, you're in for a shock.
- 你吓了我一跳。nǐxiàlewǒyítiàoYou scared me.
- 你怎么突然站在我后面？吓了我一跳！nǐzěnmetūránzhànzàiwǒhòumiàn,xiàlewǒyítiàoWhy'd you suddenly stand right behind me? You scared me!
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Fright, surprise, awkwardness”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “scare” in Chinese?
“Scare” in Chinese is 吓, pinyin xià.
What does 吓 mean?
吓 (xià) means “scare, frighten”.
How do you write 吓?
吓 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 吓?
吓 is read xià. Tones: xià — fourth tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“scare” in the lesson “Fright, surprise, awkwardness”
This word is from the topic “Feelings” of HSK 6. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free