How to Write 懊 (ào) — Meaning “regretful”

Imagine your heart (忄) feels awful (sounds like 'ao') about a mistake, and the right side 奥 looks like a person (大) with a confused mind (米) — that's the feeling of regret. Picture the person saying 'I'm so sorry!' to reinforce the meaning.

Start with the heart radical on the left: first the left dot, then the vertical stroke, then the right dot. The right side 奥 has a slanted top stroke, then a 米 component, and ends with 大 — make sure the 米 does not touch the 大 below. A common mistake is writing the right side too wide or mixing up the order of strokes in 奥.

懊 expresses regret or annoyance, while 愫 means sincere feelings (heart radical + 素 'plain') and 慊 relates to satisfaction or resentment (heart radical + 兼 'both'). Visually, the right sides differ: 懊 has 奥, 愫 has 素, and 慊 has 兼, so focus on those components to tell them apart.

懊 appears in words like 懊恼 (annoyed), 懊悔 (to regret), and 懊丧 (dejected), usually in written or formal contexts. It is not in the HSK list, so it's more advanced; Chinese learners may encounter it in literature or news to describe deep emotional regret.

Common words containing 懊 include: 懊恼 (ào nǎo) — annoyed; 懊悔 (ào huǐ) — to regret; 懊丧 (ào sàng) — dejected.