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心虚 (xīn xū) — to have a guilty conscience; to lack self-confidence (due to awareness of one's shortcomings)

Definition

心虚 describes an uneasy, inward feeling — usually a guilty conscience (about something you did) or a diffident self-doubt (about your ability). The two senses share the same unease but differ in cause: wrongdoing vs. lack of confidence.

adjective
to have a guilty conscienceto lack self-confidence (due to awareness of one's shortcomings)

Examples

  • ，心虚。
    Tā shuō huà shí yǎn shén duǒ shǎn, míng xiǎn shì xīn xū le.
    He avoided eye contact while speaking — clearly he had a guilty conscience.
  • ，心虚，。
    Dì yī cì shàng tái yǎn jiǎng, tā xīn lǐ hěn xīn xū, dàn yìng zhe tóu pí jiǎng wán le.
    The first time he gave a speech on stage, he felt very insecure inside, but he forced himself to finish.
  • 心虚，。
    Zuò zéi de rén zǒng shì xīn xū, tīng dào jǐng dí jiù jǐn zhāng.
    Thieves always have a guilty conscience — they get nervous when they hear a siren.

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.

心xīnheart
虚xūempty or weak

心虚 pictures 心 (the heart) as 虚 (empty or weak), giving a guilty or unsure feeling.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 虛; 虚 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
丘丘qiūhill
Sound part声符shēngfú
虍
虍hū虛xū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 虛 pairs the upper 虍, which gives the sound, with a lower part shaped like 丘, 'hill'; the simplified 虚 is a later shorthand.

Open 虚 →
Appears in
Emotions & Feelings

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