焦躁
jiāo zào · HSK 7
fretful
🔥🦶 焦 = scorched (fire dots 灬 below) + 躁 = restless (足 foot) = nerves on a hot foot
焦 jiāo carries 火/灬 fire underneath, the burnt-up edge of anxiety; 躁 zào pairs the 足 foot radical with a noisy phonetic, the sense of fidgeting feet that cannot stay still. Together: an impatient, fretful heat.
焦 — bird 隹 over fire 灬
焦 is an associative compound showing a short-tailed bird (隹) above fire (灬), depicting roasting a bird until scorched. The original sense was 'burnt' or 'charred,' which extended to 'scorched, dried out,' and metaphorically to 'anxious, worried' (as in 焦急).