Chinese word

吵

Pronunciation

Pinyinchǎo

Meaning

  • adjectivenoisy

Example

这里太吵，我听不清你。zhè lǐ tài chǎo wǒ tīng bù qīng nǐ

It's too noisy here, so I can't hear you clearly.

Illustration for 吵 (noisy)

More examples

新房间一点也不吵，我睡得很好。xīn fáng jiān yì diǎn yě bù chǎo wǒ shuì de hěn hǎo

The new room isn't noisy at all, so I slept very well.

Core concept

Sound spilling into the space until quiet listening is difficult, whether it comes from a place, voices, or an argument.

Common phrases

  • 太吵了tài chǎo le

    too noisy

  • 有点吵yóu diǎn chǎo

    a little noisy

  • 吵得很厉害chǎo de hěn lì hài

    very noisy

Similar words

热闹rè nào: Lively and full of people, activity, and cheerful sound.
喧闹xuān nào: Loud and disorderly, with voices or other sounds disturbing the surroundings.

Definition in Chinese

发出大声或嘈杂的声音，使周围难以听清或安静；也可指人相互争吵或喧闹。fā chū dà shēng huò cáo zá de shēng yīn shǐ zhōu wéi nán yǐ tīng qīng huò ān jìng yě kě zhǐ rén xiāng hù zhēng chǎo huò xuān nào

Word origin

吵 (chǎo, "noisy") combines 口 (kǒu, "mouth"), which connects the character with speech and sound, with 少 (shǎo, "few"), which provides the phonetic clue.

Usage tips

  • The subject helps identify the sense: a location points to an unwanted sound environment, while people as the subject can point to a heated exchange.

Other meanings

  • argueverb
  • make noiseverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word