躁 (zào) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

躁

zào[zao4]Tone 4

impatient; hot-tempered

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · impatient; hot-tempered

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:19

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (足 foot) is narrower and compressed vertically to make room for the wider, complex right side (喿 flock of birds/noisy).

1. Meaning

impatient; hot-tempered; restless

rashimpulsiveagitated

AdjectiveNeutral#personality#emotion#behavior

Sample Usage

遇到问题不要急躁。
Yùdào wèntí bú yào jízào.
Don't be impatient and rash when encountering problems.
他最近脾气很躁。
Tā zuìjìn píqì hěn zào.
He has been very hot-tempered recently.

2. Sound

/[t͡sɑʊ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

躁

zàozao4

`(51)

=zào

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

zao

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "a" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Dental Sibilant

Sounds like: ts as in 'cats'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No air puff (sounds like 'ds' in English 'cards'). Tissue still.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tip of the tongue touches the back of the upper teeth or alveolar ridge, releasing air sharply without a puff.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -ao rhymes with 'ow' in 'cow'

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ow'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and plunges sharply downward like an emphatic command or exclamation of surprise in English.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the initial 'z-' [t͡s] with 'zh-' [t͡ʂ], or missing the sharp downward pitch drop of Tone 4.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 4 is a sharp downward slash, mirroring a firm chop of the hand or nodding 'no' decisively.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 19 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (足 foot) is narrower and compressed vertically to make room for the wider, complex right side (喿 flock of birds/noisy).

4. Components

Radical 足 · Foot Radical (foot, leg)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 足 (Indicates physical restlessness, stamping feet, or body movement linked to impatience.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 喿 (original sound: zào)

A person whose feet (足) are constantly stamping because three birds (品) are screaming noisily (喿) in a tree, making everyone restless and impatient.

足 foot (semantic clue for physical movement/restlessness)
喿 noisy/chirping (phonetic and semantic clue for agitation)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

9· Phonetic Root: 喿 (sào)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from 足 (foot) representing physical movement and 喿 (birds chirping noisily) representing clamor and agitation. Together they depict the restless, noisy pacing of an impatient person.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred to the physical restlessness or noisy clamor of birds and feet; evolved to describe psychological impatience, rashness, and a hot-tempered disposition.

The right-hand component 喿 depicts three birds (品) on a tree (木), making a racket.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ソウ (sō) / Kun: あセる (aseru)

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine an impatient chef stamping his FEET (足) because three noisy BIRDS (喿) are screaming in the kitchen, making him completely HOT-TEMPERED and RASH (zào).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

喿

sàochirping of birdsPhonetic Core (声旁)

澡

zǎobath+ 氵 (water)

操

cāoold variant of 操[cao1]+ 扌 (hand)

燥

zàodry; parched; impatient; vexed+ 火 (fire)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

燥(zào)

躁 has the foot radical (足) for foot-tapping impatience; 燥 has the fire radical (火) for dryness.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

做事不要太[___]，要沉着冷静。

Clue: zào

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 躁 (impatient, with foot radical 足) with 燥 (dry, with fire radical 火) because they share the exact same pronunciation (zào).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see the character 躁, what physical behavior and emotional state does the foot radical hint at?

Production: How do you write the adjective for 'impatient / hot-tempered' (zào) that combines a foot radical with a noisy-birds component?

躁zàoimpatient; hot-tempered

Speed:

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