手足无措 (shǒu zú wú cuò) — at a loss; flustered; not knowing what to do
Definition
A chengyu describing being at a total loss — so flustered, nervous, or shocked that you don't know what to do or say. Stronger than 'confused'; implies being momentarily paralyzed.
idiom
at a lossflusterednot knowing what to do
Examples
- ,手足无措,。Miàn duì zhè ge wèn tí, tā shǒu zú wú cuò, bù zhī dào gāi zěn me huí dá.Faced with this problem, he was at a loss, not knowing how to answer.
- ,手足无措,。Tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi, dà jiā dōu shǒu zú wú cuò, yì shí shuō bù chū huà lái.Hearing this news, everyone was at a loss, unable to speak for a moment.
- ,。Tā dì yī cì shàng tái yǎn jiǎng, jǐn zhāng dé shǒu zú wú cuò.He gave a speech on stage for the first time, was so nervous he was at a loss.
Appears in
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