恐 (kǒng) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order
Pronunciation & meaning
Pronounced .
- fearful
- apprehensive
- to fear
- to dread
Stroke Order & Practice
Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.
Decomposition
恐 breaks down into 2 components arranged as Top + Bottom. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.
Radical
The radical of 恐 is 心 — meaning heart. Radicals are the indexing components used in Chinese dictionaries; they often hint at a character's broad meaning category.
Other HSK 4 characters that share this radical: 忽态志虑悉.
How the character is built
恐 is a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component 心 (heart) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component 巩 originally indicated the sound.
HSK 4 Words Containing 恐
Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句
恐 appears in 9 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:
FAQ
What does 恐 mean in Chinese?
恐 (kǒng) means fearful, apprehensive; to fear, to dread. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).
How many strokes does 恐 have?
恐 is written in 10 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 恐?
The radical of 恐 is 心 (heart). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 忽, 态, 志, 虑, 悉.
What is the pinyin for 恐?
恐 is pronounced kǒng.
What HSK 4 words use 恐?
In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 恐 appears in 1 word, including 恐怕 (kǒngpà). See the full list above.