闹 (nào) is a Chinese character meaning “noisy”. It is written from 门 (door; gate) and 市 (market; city), one enclosing the other, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “noisy”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
门 + 市
Enclosing structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（⿵门市），已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：门 3 画 + 市 5 画 = 8 画
Memory aid
A whole market (市) has been crammed inside one gateway (门) — shouting sellers, haggling buyers, all packed in the doorway. That racket is 闹.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 吵闹chǎo nàonoisy; to make a racket闹 = nào
- 闹钟nào zhōngalarm clock闹 = nào
Go deeper
All readings
noisy; to make a racket
noisy; boisterous; to make a racket; to stir up trouble; to go in for (an activity) in a big way
声音大而杂乱；也指吵嚷、胡乱发泄，或大张旗鼓地做某事。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 吵闹chǎo nàonoisy; to make a racket闹 = nào
- 闹钟nào zhōngalarm clock闹 = nào
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 闹 mean?
闹 (nào) means noisy; boisterous; to make a racket; to stir up trouble; to go in for (an activity) in a big way.
How do you pronounce 闹?
It is pronounced nào.
What parts is 闹 made of?
门 (door; gate) and 市 (market; city), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（⿵门市），已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：门 3 画 + 市 5 画 = 8 画. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 闹 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 闹?
门. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 闹?
Common ones are 吵闹 and 闹钟. The reading of 闹 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.