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惨不忍睹 (cǎn bù rěn dǔ) — too horrible to look at; appalling; tragic

Definition

A vivid four-character idiom used for scenes, images, or conditions so terrible that one cannot bear to look — stronger than simply saying 'very bad'. Often collocates with 景象/画面/惨状.

idiom
too horrible to look atappallingtragic

Examples

  • 惨不忍睹，。
    Shì gù xiàn chǎng de huà miàn zhēn shì cǎn bù rěn dǔ, hěn duō rén dōu zhuǎn guò shēn qù.
    The footage from the accident scene was too horrible to look at; many people turned away.
  • 惨不忍睹，。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng lǐ de bào lì jìng tóu cǎn bù rěn dǔ, bú shì hé ér tóng guān kàn.
    The violent scenes in this movie are too horrible to look at; they are not suitable for children.
  • ，惨不忍睹。
    Zhàn luàn dì qū de fáng wū bèi huǐ, dào chù shì cǎn bù rěn dǔ de jǐng xiàng.
    In the war-torn area, houses were destroyed, and it was a sight too horrible to look at everywhere.

Origin

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 慘; 惨 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
參
參cān慘cǎn
Same sound today

The traditional form 慘 puts 心 (heart) with 參 as its sound part. The simplified 惨 is a later shorthand, so its shape is not the historical form.

Open 惨 →

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 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
刃
刃rèn忍rěn
Same sound today

忍 combines 心 (heart) and 刃 (blade). The 刃 part provides the sound, and the 心 part is the heart.

Open 忍 →

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
目目mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
者
者zhě睹dǔ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

睹 pairs 目 (eye), related to seeing, with 者 as a part hinting at the sound.

Open 睹 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set PhrasesGood & Bad

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