How to Write 嗐 (hài) — Meaning “Alas; oh (interjection of regret or surprise)”

Picture a mouth (口) saying "Hai!" while a person with a big helmet (the top part of 害) walks into a disaster. The person's helmet looks like a roof (宀) over three lines (丰) and a small mouth below, and this whole scene makes you sigh "Alas!" in regret.

The left 口 should be small and placed high, not too large. On the right, the 害 part starts with a roof (宀), then three horizontal strokes (丰) — do not add extra strokes — and ends with a wider 口 at the bottom. A common mistake is making the left 口 too big or misaligning the top of 害 with the left radical.

嗐 is an interjection meaning "Alas," while 㕡 is an extremely rare character not used in modern Chinese. 唪 (fěng) means to chant or recite and is pronounced differently; visually, 唪 uses 奉 on the right instead of 害, and its meaning is unrelated to exclamations of regret.

嗐 is a casual exclamation used in spoken Chinese to express regret, frustration, or mild surprise, like saying "Alas!" or "Oh dear!" in English. You might hear it in daily conversation, for example: "嗐，又忘了带钥匙！" (Alas, I forgot my keys again!). It appears in literature to convey a sighing tone but is not used in formal writing.

Common words containing 嗐 include: 嗐 (hài) — Alas; oh (interjection of regret or surprise).