心有余悸 (xīn yǒu yú jì) — to have lingering fear (after a frightening exp…

Definition

An idiom meaning the lingering fear or unease that stays with you after a scary experience has passed. Used only for past events — not for fear you feel in the moment.

idiom

to have lingering fear (after a frightening experience has passed)

Examples

，心有余悸。
Nà cì chē huò suī rán yǐ jīng guò qù yì nián le, dàn tā zhì jīn xīn yǒu yú jì.
Although that car accident happened a year ago, he still has lingering fear to this day.
，心有余悸。
Tán qǐ nà cì dì zhèn, lǎo rén men réng rán xīn yǒu yú jì.
When talking about that earthquake, the elderly still have lingering fear.
，心有余悸。
Suī rán shǒu shù hěn chéng gōng, dàn bìng rén duì má zuì guò chéng xīn yǒu yú jì.
Although the surgery was successful, the patient still has lingering fear about the anesthesia process.

Origin

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.

Open 心 →

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

肉肉ròumeat

Sound part声符shēngfú

又

又yòu有yǒu

Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 餘; 余 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

食食shí

Sound part声符shēngfú

余

余yú餘Yú

Same sound today

The traditional form 餘 pairs 食 (food) with 余 as its sound part; the simplified 余 is a later abbreviation.

Open 余 →

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