骜 (ào): (of a horse) untamed; spirited

Meanings

1 (of a horse) untamed; spirited
2 headstrong; arrogant
3 a fine steed (literary)

Characters

骜

ào

untamed; headstrong; a fine steed

Examples

他从小桀骜不驯，不听任何人的话。

Tā cóngxiǎo jié'ào bùxùn, bù tīng rènhérén de huà.

He has been proud and unruly since childhood, unwilling to take orders from anyone.

这匹野马性子骜，很难驯服。

Zhè pǐ yěmǎ xìngzi ào, hěn nán xúnfú.

This wild horse is hard to break in.

Tips

usage

Almost always seen inside the four-character idiom 桀骜不驯 ('proud and untamable'), describing a strong-willed person who refuses to submit. Standalone use is rare and literary.

Components

radical

马 mǎ

horse

Bottom 马 is the horse radical, putting this character in the horse family and anchoring the literal sense: a spirited, untamed steed.

phonetic

敖 áo

to ramble; to play

Top 敖 gives the sound (áo → ào, just a tone shift) and a faint flavor of 'roaming free,' fitting an untamed horse. Same phonetic appears in 傲 arrogant and 熬 to simmer.