哏

gén
noun #52,540

Meanings

  1. 1 funny line; comic gag (in crosstalk)
  2. 2 funny; amusing

Examples

HSK 6
Zhè duàn xiàngsheng zhēn gén.
This crosstalk piece is really funny.

Tips

history
哏 has almost no general modern use. It survives chiefly as a performing-arts term in 相声 (crosstalk), where a 哏 is a comic gag, and as a regional word for funny. A separate old reading made it a variant of 狠 / 很.
register
Northern and theatrical; outside crosstalk circles 好笑 or 有趣 is normal.

Components

radical
口 kǒu
mouth
口 is the mouth radical, fitting since the word is about spoken comedy and laughter.
phonetic
艮 gèn
stubborn; one of the eight trigrams
艮 supplies the sound, with the reading shifting from 艮 to 哏.

Stroke Order

哏 gén