搞笑
gǎo xiào · HSK 7
hilarious
😂 搞 (do/make) + 笑 (laugh) = make-laugh, i.e. funny
搞 means to do or make something happen; 笑 means laugh or smile. Together 搞笑 literally is make-laugh — used for anything hilarious or comedic, often a person or skit deliberately playing for laughs.
搞 — hand radical 扌 + 高 (gāo, tall)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌on the left signals an action done with the hands, while 高 on the right gives the sound (gāo → gǎo). Originally meaning to do or make by hand, it broadened in modern Chinese to a general verb meaning to do, get, or carry out.
笑 — bamboo radical 竹 (⺮) + 夭 (yāo, bending)
Originally written with the bamboo radical over 夭, depicting a person bending or swaying. One traditional reading is that bamboo bends in the wind like a person doubling over with laughter. The character has meant 'laugh, smile' since early times, with no major shift in meaning.