刺耳
cì ěr · HSK 7
ear-piercing
🔊👂 cì ěr = thorn + ear — a sound that stabs your ear
刺 means thorn or to stab, 耳 means ear. Together they describe a sound so sharp and grating it feels like something physically piercing your ear. The compound is literal: stab-ear = ear-piercing.
刺 — thorn 朿 (phonetic) + knife 刂 (meaning)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The knife radical 刂 carries the meaning of cutting or piercing, while 朿 (a thorn) supplies both the sound and reinforces the idea of something sharp. Original sense was 'to stab' or 'pierce', later extended to 'thorn', 'sting', and figuratively 'to criticize sharply'.