How to Say
How to Write
dāo
Radical: 忄 5 strokes
Meaning: grieved
💡 Heart (忄) cut by a knife (刀) = grieved.
Compounds

📚 Character Story & Explanation

忉 (dāo) meaning in English —

In a quiet Beijing hutong, an elderly woman sighs as she looks at an old photograph—her expression is 忉 (dāo), a deep grief rarely spoken aloud. This character, formed by the heart radical 忄 (心) on the left and 刀 (knife) on the right, literally means 'heart cut by a knife,' vividly depicting sorrow. It appears in classical poetry and formal writing, often paired with 忉 (dāo) to form compounds like 忉怛 (dāodá, deeply grieved). Although uncommon in daily speech, it carries profound emotional weight in literary contexts.

💬 Example Sentences

Common Compounds

Similar Characters — Don't Mix These Up

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