阻挠
zǔ náo · HSK 7
to thwart
🚧 阻 (block) + 挠 (scratch/disturb) = block-and-disturb, i.e. to thwart
阻 zǔ means to block or hinder; 挠 náo means to scratch or disturb. Together they describe actively getting in the way to thwart or obstruct something. The náo sound rhymes with now, as in stop it now.
挠 — hand radical 扌 + 尧 (yáo, phonetic)
挠 is a phono-semantic compound. The hand radical 扌 signals an action done with the hand, while 尧 (yáo) supplies the sound, shifted to náo. Originally meaning to disturb or bend, it now commonly means to scratch.