HSK 6 · Emotions

恐怖 kǒngbù “terror” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 恐怖 means

  1. terror
  2. horror
  3. terrifying
  4. terrible
  5. frightful
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • frightening
  • terrorist

How to say 恐怖

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale恐kǒng3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale怖bù4th tone, falling

恐怖 in a sentence

  1. 我从没读过那么恐怖的小说。

    Wǒ cóng méi dúguo nàme kǒngbù de xiǎoshuō.

    I’ve never read such a scary novel.

    Sentence #343762 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我要去看恐怖电影。

    Wǒ yào qù kàn kǒngbù diànyǐng.

    I’m going to see a horror film.

    Sentence #761308 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 这部恐怖片很吓人，我一看就睡不着觉了。

    Zhè bù kǒngbù piàn hěn xiàrén, wǒ yí kàn jiù shuì bu zháo jiào le.

    This horror film is really scary — after watching it I couldn’t sleep.

    Sentence #647749 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 恐怖 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 恐 (kǒng) with each of its parts in a different colour
恐kǒngafraid
  • 巩to bind · gǒngSound part
  • 心heart · xīnMeaning part

心 hints at the meaning (heart); 巩 (gǒng) hints at the sound. Compare it with kǒng.

The character 怖 (bù) with each of its parts in a different colour
怖bùterror
  • 忄heart form of 心 · xīnMeaning part
  • 布cotton · bùSound part

忄 hints at the meaning (heart); 布 (bù) hints at the sound. Compare it with bù.

How to write 恐怖

恐 10 strokes · 怖 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

恐怖 (kǒngbù) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 恐怖 (kǒngbù). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 恐怖

Words with 恐

恐怕kǒngpà · I’m afraid (that)恐吓kǒnghè · to threaten恐惧kǒngjù · fear争先恐后zhēngxiānkǒnghòu · to compete eagerly

More words: Emotions & Attitudes

拘束jūshù · ill at ease渴望kěwàng · to long for可恶kěwù · hateful克制kèzhì · to restrain恐惧kǒngjù · fear空虚kōngxū · empty快活kuàihuo · happy哭泣kūqì · to weep

FAQs

恐怖 (kǒngbù) means “terror” or “horror”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it kǒngbù: kǒng with a 3rd tone, then bù with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 恐怖 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type kongbu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 恐怖 from the suggestions. Typing kongbu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
恐怖 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.