惴惴不安 (zhuì zhuì bù ān) — anxious and uneasy, on tenterhooks

Definition

A formal chengyu meaning deeply anxious and uneasy about an uncertain outcome — stronger and more literary than everyday words like 担心. Used in writing or to describe prolonged, intense worry.

idiom
anxious and uneasyon tenterhooks

Examples

  • ，惴惴不安。
    Kǎo shì jié guǒ gōng bù qián, tā yì zhí zhuì zhuì bù ān.
    He was on tenterhooks before the exam results were announced.
  • ，惴惴不安。
    Tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi, tā gǎn dào zhuì zhuì bù ān.
    Upon hearing this news, she felt extremely uneasy.
  • ，惴惴不安。
    Zài děng dài shǒu shù jié guǒ de nà jǐ tiān, quán jiā rén dōu zhuì zhuì bù ān.
    During the days waiting for the surgery results, the whole family was on tenterhooks.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

惴惴fearful
惴zhuìfearful惴zhuìfearful
重叠Reduplication
不安uneasy
不bùnot安ānat ease
偏正Modifier + head

惴惴 adds a repeated sense of fear, and 不安 means uneasy, so the whole says anxious and unsettled.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
女
女nǚ安ān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 安, 宀 sits above a seated 女 on a cushion; 宀 is the meaning part, 女 is the sound part, and the character originally meant sitting at ease.

Open 安 →

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