TongTong
Sign in

不知所措 (bù zhī-suǒ cuò) — not knowing what to do; at a complete loss; embarrassed and flustered; disconcerted

Definition

A four-character idiom meaning 'at a loss, not knowing what to do' — emphasizes frozen, bewildered inaction. Contrast with 惊慌失措 (which stresses panic) and 束手无策 (which stresses helplessness to solve a problem).

phrase
not knowing what to doat a complete lossembarrassed and flustereddisconcerted

Examples

  • ，不知所措。
    Miàn duì zhè ge tū rú qí lái de wèn tí, tā bù zhī-suǒ cuò.
    Faced with this unexpected question, he didn't know what to do.
  • ，不知所措。
    Kǎo shì shí yù dào bú huì de tí, wǒ dùn shí bù zhī-suǒ cuò.
    When I encountered a question I couldn't answer during the exam, I was suddenly at a loss.
  • ，不知所措。
    Zài zhòng rén miàn qián shuō cuò huà, tā gǎn dào shí fēn bù zhī-suǒ cuò.
    Having said the wrong thing in front of everyone, he crowd, he felt extremely embarrassed and at a loss.

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 →

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

An early form of 知 showed 大 (adult), 口 (mouth), and 子 (child): an adult speaking to a child to pass on knowledge. The 子 part was dropped, and the 大 part changed shape.

Open 知 →

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
斤斤jīnaxe
Sound part声符shēngfú
戶
戶hù所suǒ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

所 pairs 斤, an axe, with 戶, which gives the sound hù; the old meaning was the sound of logging.

Open 所 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
昔
昔xī措cuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 扌 shows a hand, and the right side 昔 gives the sound; together they form 措.

Open 措 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Emotions & FeelingsIdioms & Set Phrases

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.