Chinese character 唬

To scare or bluff someone.

In Mandarin, 唬 describes pressure built from a threat, exaggeration, or show of force. Taiwan’s Ministry of Education defines it as using an empty show of force to frighten; calling a claim 唬人 can mean “you’re trying to scare me” or “you’re putting on an act.”

Read the compound before choosing an English gloss: 唬人 points at the target, while 唬弄 points toward fooling or deceiving them. The word is colloquial and pointed, so it is not a neutral way to say “tell” or “explain.”

What did 唬 mean historically?

An early recorded sense was a cry or roar.

The Eastern Han dictionary Shuowen Jiezi, compiled around 100 CE, records 唬 for a crying sound and a tiger’s roar. Later dictionaries compare these older senses with 虓 and 猇 for tiger roaring, and 号 and 號 for calling or crying. These are historical dictionary comparisons, not one fixed modern meaning.

Ming and Qing texts use 唬 in stories for startling someone, as in 唬了一跳, and for deliberately frightening someone as a prank. That fright sense remains beside deception in Mandarin compounds.