燥 (zào): dry

Meanings

1 dry
2 parched
3 arid
4 restless; irritable

Characters

燥

zào

dry; parched

Examples

HSK 4

这种天气又热又燥，让人心烦。

Zhèzhǒng tiānqì yòu rè yòu zào, ràng rén xīnfán.

This hot and parched weather is very irritating.

HSK 6

冬天空气干燥，皮肤容易干裂。

Dōngtiān kōngqì gānzào, pífū róngyì gānliè.

In winter the air is dry and skin easily cracks.

Tips

memory

燥 has the fire radical 火 on the left - parched by fire and heat. Don't confuse it with 躁 (restless, impetuous), which has the foot radical 足. 燥 = dry; 躁 = agitated.

Components

radical

火 huǒ

fire

Left-side fire radical - a pictograph of flames rising. It indexes 燥 in the fire family with 烧 to burn, 烤 to roast, 烫 scalding, and 烟 smoke. Fire dries things out, so 燥 means 'dry, parched, arid'. The radical carries the whole meaning here.

phonetic

喿 zào

chirping

Right-side 喿 supplies the sound - same syllable, same tone, a clean phonetic. It shows three 口 mouths over 木 a tree, picturing birds chirping in branches. The same phonetic anchors 操 to grasp, 噪 noisy, and 躁 impatient - a useful family to learn together.