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大吃一惊 (dà chī-yì jīng) — to be greatly shocked, to be startled

Definition

A set phrase meaning 'to be greatly shocked' — stronger than 吃惊 ('startled') and focuses on the sudden reaction, unlike 目瞪口呆 which describes a frozen, speechless state.

phrase
to be greatly shockedto be startled

Examples

  • 大吃一惊。
    Tā tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi dà chī-yì jīng.
    He was greatly shocked when he heard this news.
  • ，大吃一惊。
    Kàn dào yǎn qián de jǐng xiàng, suǒ yǒu rén dōu dà chī-yì jīng.
    Seeing the scene before them, everyone was shocked.
  • 大吃一惊，。
    Kǎo shì jié guǒ ràng tā dà chī-yì jīng, yīn wèi tā yǐ wéi zì jǐ bù jí gé.
    The exam results shocked him because he thought he had failed.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
乞
乞qǐ吃chī
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

吃 combines 口 (mouth) with 乞, which gives the sound; it originally wrote a word meaning to stutter.

Open 吃 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
京
京jīng惊jīng
Same sound today

惊 is made from 忄 (heart) and 京, which gives the sound.

Open 惊 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Idioms & Set PhrasesEmotions & Feelings

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.