HSK 6 · Emotions

恼火 nǎohuǒ “annoyed” in Chinese

Said as náohuǒ

Traditional 惱火

What 恼火 means

  1. annoyed
  2. irritated
  3. angry
  4. riled
  5. vexed

How to say 恼火

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale恼nǎo3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale火huǒ3rd tone, dipping

Said as náohuǒ. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. How tone changes work

恼火 in a sentence

  1. 我的手机又坏了，真让人恼火。

    Wǒ de shǒujī yòu huài le, zhēn ràng rén nǎohuǒ.

    My phone has broken down again. It’s really annoying.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 他对邻居的噪音感到很恼火。

    Tā duì línjū de zàoyīn gǎndào hěn nǎohuǒ.

    He’s very annoyed by the neighbours’ noise.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 恼火 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 恼 (nǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
恼nǎoto get angry
  • 忄heart form of 心 · xīnMeaning part
  • 亠lid · tóu
  • 凶culprit · xiōng
The character 火 (huǒ) with each of its parts in a different colour
火huǒfire
  • 丷eight form of 八 · bā
  • 人person · rén

Memory aidDrawn from rising flames.

How to write 恼火

恼 9 strokes · 火 4 strokes

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

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

Words related to 恼火

Words with 恼

烦恼fánnǎo · to be worried

Words with 火

火车huǒchē · train火车站huǒchēzhàn · train station火huǒ · fire着火zháohuǒ · to catch fire火柴huǒchái · match (for lighting fire)火箭huǒjiàn · rocket火药huǒyào · gunpowder火焰huǒyàn · flame涮火锅shuànhuǒguō · to eat hotpot

More words: Emotions & Attitudes

藐视miǎoshì · to despise蔑视mièshì · to despise纳闷儿nàmènr · to feel puzzled难堪nánkān · embarrassed迫不及待pòbùjídài · too impatient to wait魄力pòlì · boldness气概qìgài · spirit凄凉qīliáng · desolate

FAQs

恼火 (nǎohuǒ) means “annoyed” or “irritated”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it nǎohuǒ: nǎo with a 3rd tone, then huǒ with a 3rd tone. In speech it sounds like náohuǒ. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 恼火 is written 惱火. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type naohuo with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 恼火 from the suggestions. Typing naohuo into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
恼火 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.