吓

嚇

xià

verb HSK 5 #910

Meanings

1 to scare; to frighten
2 to intimidate

Characters

to scare; to frighten

Examples

你吓了我一跳！

Nǐ xià le wǒ yí tiào!

You scared the heck out of me!

别吓孩子。

Bié xià háizi.

Don't scare the child.

这个消息把他吓坏了。

Zhège xiāoxi bǎ tā xià huài le.

This news scared him to death.

Tips

usage

吓了一跳 (scared into a jump) is the most common collocation. 吓坏了 means scared stiff/scared to death.

grammar

As a verb meaning 'to scare,' it's pronounced xià (4th tone). In 恐吓 (kǒnghè, to threaten), it's pronounced hè.

Stroke Order

吓 xià