心惊 (xīn jīng) — to be frightened; to be extremely worried | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literary 'to be frightened / panicked' — stronger and more written than plain 害怕, often used in set phrases like 胆战心惊.

verb

to be frightenedto be extremely worried

Examples

心惊。
Tā tīng dào zhè ge huài xiāo xi hòu xīn jīng bù yǐ.
He was terrified after hearing this bad news.
，。
Miàn duì tū fā de wēi xiǎn, tā xīn jīng dǎn zhàn.
Facing the sudden danger, she was panic-stricken.
，心惊。
Měi cì kǎo shì qián, wǒ dōu huì jué de xīn jīng.
Before every exam, I feel scared and anxious.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

惊jīngstartled

心 is the heart and 惊 means startled, so the heart is startled, hence fear or worry.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

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

忄京惊

Meaning part形符xíngfú

忄Written in full as心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

京

京jīng惊jīng

Same sound today

惊 is made from 忄 (heart) and 京, which gives the sound.

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