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不堪设想 (bù kān shè xiǎng) — unimaginable (in a terrible way), too dreadful to contemplate

Definition

Set phrase meaning consequences are 'too dreadful to imagine' — always about a negative outcome. Similar in tone to 后果严重 but focused on the unimaginable scale, not just severity.

idiom
unimaginable (in a terrible way)too dreadful to contemplate

Examples

  • ，不堪设想。
    Rú guǒ bú zhù yì ān quán, hòu guǒ bù kān shè xiǎng.
    If we don't pay attention to safety, the consequences would be unimaginable.
  • 不堪设想。
    Zhè chǎng huǒ zāi de sǔn shī zhēn shì bù kān shè xiǎng.
    The loss from this fire is truly too dreadful to contemplate.
  • ，不堪设想。
    Yào shi méi yǒu jí shí jiù yuán, qíng kuàng huì bù kān shè xiǎng.
    If there hadn't been a timely rescue, the situation would have been unimaginably bad.

Origin

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
甚
甚shèn堪kān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 土 is earth. The right part 甚 gives the sound and also hints at something extreme, matching the old idea of a heavy earthen protrusion whose weight one bears.

Open 堪 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 設; 设 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
埶
埶yì設shè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 設 uses 言 (speech) to show the meaning and 埶 to give the sound; this explanation is for 設, not the simplified 设.

Open 设 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart, mind
Sound part声符shēngfú
相
相xiāng想xiǎng
Same sound today

想 has 心 (heart, mind) below 相 (to look at); the shape shows the mind looking at or considering something, and 相 also gives the sound.

Open 想 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set Phrases

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