冷飕飕 (lěng sōu sōu) — (of wind or draft) chilling, bitingly cold

Definition

A vivid reduplicated adjective for a cold wind or draft that bites or cuts through you — stronger and more sensory than just 冷 ("cold"). Always used as a modifier with 的 (e.g. 冷飕飕的风).

bound form

(of wind or draft) chillingbitingly cold

Examples

，冷飕飕。
Wài miàn guā zhe fēng, lěng sōu sōu de.
The wind is blowing outside — it's bitingly cold.
，冷飕飕。
Zhè jiān wū zi méi yǒu nuǎn qì, gǎn jué lěng sōu sōu de.
This room has no heating — it feels chilly.
冷飕飕，。
Yí zhèn lěng sōu sōu de hán fēng chuī guò lái, wǒ bù jīn dǎ le ge duō suo.
A biting cold wind blew over, and I couldn't help shivering.

Origin

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

冷lěngcold

飕飕wind-like chill

飕sōuwind sound飕sōuwind sound

冷 means cold, and 飕飕 adds a wind-like chill, making the whole feel chilling.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

冫令冷

Meaning part形符xíngfú

冫Written in full as仌bīngice

Sound part声符shēngfú

令

令lìng冷lěng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

冷 uses 冫, the ice form, with 令 as a sound part, to mean cold as ice.

Open 冷 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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