How to Write 吵 (chǎo) — Meaning “noisy”

Picture a small mouth (口) that is too small to handle a lot of sound — so it becomes "noisy." Another way: think of 少 (few) people talking over each other with their mouths (口), creating a quarrel that is hard to ignore.

The left side 口 must be small and centered high, while the right side 少 should be slightly taller, with the small 口 above the 少's top stroke. A common mistake is making the 口 too large or placing it too low, which unbalances the character.

吵 has 口 on the left and 少 on the right, meaning noisy. 卟 has 口 on the left and 卜 (divination) on the right, and is used only in the word 卟吩 (porphin). 古 has 十 above 口 and means ancient; it looks completely different because the 十 sits on top of the mouth.

吵 often appears in words about arguing or loud noise, like 吵架 (to quarrel) and 吵闹 (noisy). In daily life, you might say 太吵了 (too noisy) to complain about a loud environment, making it a practical character for expressing discomfort with sound.

Common words containing 吵 include: 吵架 (chǎo jià) — to quarrel; 吵闹 (chǎo nào) — noisy; 太吵 (tài chǎo) — Too noisy..