懊 (ào): to regret

Meanings

他非常懊悔当初没有好好学习。

Tā fēicháng àohuǐ dāngchū méiyǒu hǎohǎo xuéxí.

He deeply regretted not having studied harder.

她为错过火车而十分懊恼。

Tā wèi cuòguò huǒchē ér shífēn àonǎo.

She was very annoyed about missing the train.

usage

Common in 懊悔 (to regret bitterly) and 懊恼 (annoyed, vexed). It blends regret with frustration — being upset at oneself.

radical

忄 xīn

heart; emotion

Left 忄 is the heart radical 心 in left-side form. It marks 懊 as an emotion — the gnawing feeling of regret and vexation.

phonetic

奥 ào

profound; phonetic

Right 奥 supplies the sound exactly (ào = ào). The same phonetic anchors 澳 (bay) and 懊's near-relative 墺.

懊 ào