How to Write 扰 (rǎo) — Meaning “to disturb; to bother; to trouble”

Imagine a hand (扌) reaching out to poke someone who is doing something "尤" (especially annoying) — that hand is disturbing them. You can also think of the right side 尤 as a person with a bent back, and your hand is bothering them.

The left radical 扌 is three strokes: horizontal, vertical hook, then a rising stroke. The right part 尤 has four strokes: horizontal, left-falling, vertical hook, and then a dot at the end — do not forget the dot. Keep the hand radical slightly shorter and the right side a bit taller for proper balance.

扑 (pū) means "to pounce" or "to throw oneself on" and has the right component 卜 (bǔ), a simple dot above a vertical line. 扰's right side 尤 has a hook and a dot, giving it the meaning of disturbance. The character 㧜 is extremely rare and not used in modern Chinese, so you only need to focus on 扑.

You often see 扰 in common words like 打扰 (dǎ rǎo, to disturb), 干扰 (gān rǎo, to interfere), and 骚扰 (sāo rǎo, to harass). It is polite to say "打扰了" when you interrupt someone, like saying "Sorry to bother you" in English.

Common words containing 扰 include: 打扰 (dǎ rǎo) — to disturb; to bother; 干扰 (gān rǎo) — to interfere / disturbance; 骚扰 (sāo rǎo) — To harass.