惑

huò
verb #16,248

Meanings

  1. 1 to confuse
  2. 2 to bewilder
  3. 3 to be puzzled
  4. 4 doubt

Examples

HSK 5
Búyào bèi biǎomiàn xiànxiàng suǒ míhuò.
Don't be deceived by appearances.
HSK 6
Zhè jiàn shì ràng wǒ hěn yíhuò.
This matter left me very puzzled.

Tips

usage
Mostly appears as a bound form in compounds: 迷惑 (to confuse/bewilder), 疑惑 (doubt/puzzlement), 诱惑 (to tempt), 困惑 (perplexed). Rarely used alone in modern Chinese.

Components

radical
心 xīn
heart; mind
Bottom heart radical - the indexing radical, anchoring 惑 in the mental/emotional verb family. Confusion, doubt, temptation are all matters of the heart in classical Chinese psychology. Same radical groups 惑 with 想 (think), 念 (miss), 感 (feel), 恋 (love). The full 心 stays at the bottom; only side-position chars use 忄.
phonetic
或 huò
or; perhaps
Top 或 supplies the sound directly - huò matches the whole reading. 或 originally pictured a halberd guarding a territory (the source of 国). Its modern 'or, perhaps' sense brings a faint semantic flavour to 惑: indecision in the mind is being torn between 'maybe this, maybe that'. Same phonetic in 域 (region), 国 (country).

Stroke Order

惑 huò