恐

kǒng
verb #5,145

Meanings

  1. 1 afraid; to fear
  2. 2 perhaps; I'm afraid that

Examples

HSK 1
他有恐高症。
Tā yǒu kǒnggāozhèng.
He has a fear of heights.
HSK 4
Kǒngpà láibují le.
I'm afraid there's not enough time.
HSK 7-9
Kǒnglóng yǐjīng mièjué le.
Dinosaurs are already extinct.

Tips

usage
恐 is used in: 恐怕 (I'm afraid/perhaps), 恐惧 (fear), 恐怖 (terror), 恐龙 (dinosaur - lit. 'fear dragon'). 恐怕 is very common in daily speech as a polite hedge.

Components

radical
心 xīn
heart; mind
Heart radical at the bottom - fear and dread are matters of the heart in classical Chinese psychology. 恐 sits in the family of mental-state chars alongside 怕 (afraid), 念 (think of), 思 (think), 感 (feel). Full 心 here (not 忄) because the phonetic stacks above, not beside.
phonetic
巩 gǒng
firm; secure (here phonetic)
Top 巩 supplies the sound - gǒng drifted to kǒng with the regular k/g initial alternation common in Old Chinese. 巩 itself depicts a hand 工-tool gripping tight, faintly reinforcing the 'gripping fear' picture - but the role here is primarily phonetic.

Stroke Order

恐 kǒng