凶狠
xiōng hěn · HSK 7
cruel
🐺 凶 fierce/ominous + 狠 ruthless; the 犭 beast radical in 狠 marks animal savagery
凶 means fierce or ominous (the same 凶 as in 凶手, a killer), and 狠 means ruthless, built on the 犭 beast radical that flags predatory animals. Stacked, they describe a person acting with savage, vengeful cruelty.
凶 — 凵 (open container) + 㐅 (crossed lines marking a pit)
凶 is a pictograph showing a pit or hole (凵) with crossed lines inside, marking a dangerous trap one could fall into. From this image of a hazard, the character came to mean 'inauspicious,' 'fierce,' or 'ominous,' and is the opposite of 吉 (auspicious).
狠 — dog radical 犭 + 艮 (gèn, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 犭 (dog) suggests fierce, animal-like behavior, while 艮 supplies the sound. Originally described a dog's vicious or stubborn nature, later extended to humans meaning 'ruthless,' 'cruel,' or by extension 'severe' and 'firm.'