jiǎo / jiáo
verb #21,324

Meanings

  1. 1 to correct
  2. 2 to straighten
  3. 3 to rectify
  4. 4 strong and vigorous
  5. 5 to feign; to pretend

Examples

Yīshēng bāng tā jiǎozhèng le yáchǐ.
The doctor helped him straighten his teeth.
Zhè zhǒng xíngwéi bìxū jíshí jiǎozhèng.
This behavior must be corrected in a timely manner.
Zhè wèi niánqīng yùndòngyuán shēnshǒu jiǎojiàn.
The young athlete has a strong and agile build.

Tips

memory
Think of as 'bending back into shape'. It contains (arrow), which must fly straight, so to is to make something arrow-straight again.
usage
Read jiǎo for the everyday senses of correcting or straightening (矫正, 矫健). A separate colloquial reading jiáo appears only in 矫情 (being deliberately difficult or fussy).

Components

radical
shǐ
arrow
Arrow radical on the left supplies the literal image: bent arrows had to be straightened over heat before they would fly true. From that craft-bench origin widened to mean any kind of correction or rectification, from orthodontics to posture to character.
phonetic
qiáo
tall; lofty
Right side supplies the sound: qiáo shifting to jiǎo, a common palatal-initial pattern. The 'tall and upright' sense of also matches what a straightened arrow becomes: vertical, true, no longer warped.

Stroke Order

jiǎo