闹 (nào): to make noise; to be noisy

Meanings

1 to make noise; to be noisy
2 to cause a disturbance; to make a fuss
3 to suffer from (an illness, famine, etc.)

Characters

闹

nào

noisy; to make a fuss; to cause trouble

Examples

孩子们在外面闹。

Háizi men zài wàimiàn nào.

The children are making noise outside.

别闹了，安静点！

Bié nào le, ānjìng diǎn!

Stop making a fuss, be quiet!

他们吵闹了一晚上。

Tāmen chǎonào le yī wǎnshang.

They were noisy all night.

闹肚子了。

Nàodùzi le.

I have an upset stomach.

Tips

usage

闹 has many colloquial uses: 闹肚子 (upset stomach), 闹脾气 (throw a tantrum), 闹笑话 (make a fool of oneself), 闹矛盾 (have a conflict). The core meaning is 'disturbance/trouble'.

Components

radical

门 mén

door; gate (simplified from 門)

Outer wrap door radical — the indexing radical, simplified from the two-leaf gate 門. Frames the scene of 闹 as something happening at a doorway or gate: a public, visible commotion. Same family of gate-wrapped chars: 间 (room), 问 (ask), 闯 (rush in), 闲 (idle), 闷 (stuffy).

semantic

市 shì

market; city

Inner 市 — a bustling marketplace, source of noise and crowds. Combined with the gate above, the picture is 'a market scene visible through the gate' = a din, a hubbub. The traditional 鬧 had 鬥 (fight) outside, picturing a brawl in the market. Hence 闹 covers cheerful bustle (热闹) and angry quarrels (闹翻).