狠 (hěn) · ruthless; fierce; merciless

Meanings

1 ruthless; fierce; merciless
2 resolute; determined; firm

Characters

狠

hěn

ruthless; fierce

Examples

HSK 4

你得狠下心来做决定。

Nǐ děi hěn xià xīn lái zuò juédìng.

You need to steel yourself and make a decision.

HSK 4

这个人心狠手辣。

Zhège rén xīnhěn-shǒulà.

This person is ruthless and cruel.

HSK 7-9

她狠狠地瞪了他一眼。

Tā hěnhěn de dèng le tā yìyǎn.

She glared at him fiercely.

Tips

usage

狠 can be positive: 对自己狠一点 means 'be tougher on yourself' - push yourself harder. 狠心 means 'to harden one's heart' to make a tough decision.

memory

犭(dog/animal) + 艮 - looks almost identical to 很 (hěn, very) but with the dog radical instead of the step radical. A fierce animal is ruthless.

Components

radical

犭 quǎn

dog (radical form of 犬)

Left-side dog radical - the indexing radical, side-form of 犬. Marks 狠 with the 'beastly, animal' frame: ferocity that is dog-like in its ruthlessness. Same family of dog/beast chars: 狗 (dog), 猫 (cat), 狂 (wild), 狡 (sly), 猛 (fierce).

phonetic

艮 gěn

tough; obstacle (one of the eight trigrams)

Right-side 艮 supplies the sound - gěn shifting to hěn in 狠 (g/h alternation in this phonetic series). 艮 carries a faint semantic flavor of 'stubborn, immovable' which suits the unyielding cruelty of 狠. Phonetic family: 很 (very), 恨 (hate), 痕 (scar), 跟 (heel/with), 根 (root).