A phono-semantic compound:
心 (“heart, mind”) — semantic element, indicating feelings or emotion.
皇 (hwang / huáng, “emperor, august”) — phonetic element.
The combination suggests a heart made uneasy before majesty or authority, leading to the meaning “to fear” or “to be apprehensive.”

惶恐 (황공) — to feel deeply afraid, “trembling with fear” (often used humbly in classical texts: “惶恐謝恩” — to gratefully and fearfully thank for imperial favor)
惶惑 (황혹) — to be perplexed and fearful
惶駭 (황해) — shocked and terrified
戰戰兢兢，如臨深淵，如履薄冰，常懷惶懼 — “trembling with fear, as if facing a deep abyss or walking on thin ice” (Book of Songs, Confucian citation).

Characters

Words

Vocabulary

to breathe, to rest, to live

to repent, to regret, to feel remorse

to be sad, sorrowful, grieved

stifled, suffocated, depressed, bored

feeling, emotion, sentiment

kindness, benevolence, grace, favor

evil, bad, wicked, to hate, to detest

to think, to consider, to imagine, to long for

to fear, to be anxious, to feel dread or awe

intention, meaning, thought, idea, will

love, affection; to cherish, to value

to feel, to sense

affection, kindness, benevolence, maternal love

form, appearance, manner, condition, state, attitude, demeanor

to be flustered, to panic, to be bewildered or in confusion, to be hurried, pressed, in a rush

tragic, miserable, wretched, cruel, harsh, grievous, disastrous

habit, custom, to be accustomed, to get used to, familiarity

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Chinese character

Explore 214 Chinese radicals and their derived characters. Sort by radical or stroke count, and view the complete list of official Hanja radicals.

Chinese characters (Hanja)

Chinese characters dictionary

惶

Etymology

Usage in Korean

Words that derived from 惶

Neighboring characters in the dictionary

References