惹
rě
to provoke
to irritate; to vex; to stir up; to anger; to attract (troubles); to cause (problems)
provocation-sound (若) + heart (心) = to provoke or stir up feelings
若 lends the sound rě; 心 carries the meaning — something that gets under the skin and stirs the heart into agitation. The character captures how certain actions or people seem to needle the emotions directly.
不要去惹那只狗，它会咬人的。
bù yào qù rě nà zhī gǒu，tā huì yǎo rén de。
Don't go and provoke that dog — it will bite people.
他总是惹麻烦，让大家都很头疼。
tā zǒng shì rě má fán，ràng dà jiā dōu hěn tóu téng。
He is always stirring up trouble, giving everyone a headache.
Words with 惹
不好惹
bù hǎo rě
not to be trifled with
好惹
hǎo rě
accommodating
娘惹
niáng rě
see 峇峇娘惹[Ba1 ba1 Niang2 re3]
妈惹法克
mā rě fǎ kè
motherfucker (loanword)
峇峇娘惹
bā bā niáng rě
Peranakan Chinese (Baba-Nyonya), an ethnic group of Chinese residing in the Malay peninsula (also known as Straits Chinese)
惹不起
rě bu qǐ
can't afford to offend
惹乱子
rě luàn zi
to stir up trouble
惹事
rě shì
to cause trouble
惹事生非
rě shì shēng fēi
variant of 惹是生非[re3 shi4 sheng1 fei1]
惹人
rě rén
to provoke (esp. annoyance, disgust etc)
惹人厌
rě rén yàn
annoying
惹人心烦
rě rén xīn fán
to annoy people