不寒而栗 (bù hán ér lì) — to shudder with fear; to be terrified (lit. 'sh…

Definition

A literary chengyu meaning 'to shudder with fear even though not cold' — vivid, intense terror from something deeply disturbing, not casual fright.

idiom

to shudder with fearto be terrified (lit. 'shiver without being cold')

，不寒而栗。
Tīng dào nà ge kǒng bù de gù shi, tā gǎn dào bù hán ér lì.
Hearing that horror story, he felt a chill of fear.
，不寒而栗。
Miàn duì rú cǐ cán rěn de zuì xíng, suǒ yǒu rén dōu bù hán ér lì.
Faced with such cruel crimes, everyone shuddered with fear.
不寒而栗。
Tā nà zhǒng yīn lěng de xiào róng ràng rén bù hán ér lì.
That cold, sinister smile of his made people tremble with fear.

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.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

寒 shows 宀 (house), 人 (person), and 茻 (grass): a person sleeping in grass inside a house to keep out the cold.

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

The shape of 而 is a picture of a beard.

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

栗 originally drew chestnuts growing on a tree.