可怕
kěpà · HSK 2
terrible
😱 可 (can) + 怕 (fear) = can cause fear → terrible, fearful
可 means 'can/-able' and 怕 means 'to fear'. Together 可怕 literally reads as 'fear-able' — something capable of causing fear, i.e. fearful or terrible.
可 — mouth 口 + breath marker 丁 (modified)
可 originally depicted a mouth (口) with a curved stroke suggesting exhaled breath or speech, conveying approval or assent. From this came the meaning 'to permit' or 'can,' as granting permission was expressed verbally. Today it broadly means 'may,' 'can,' or 'approve.'
怕 — heart radical 忄 + white 白
A semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 忄 signals an emotion, while 白 (bái) supplies the sound, which shifted over time to pà. The combination came to mean 'fear'—a feeling in the heart—though 白 contributes only phonetically, not by meaning.