惨白 (cǎn bái) — deathly pale | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

惨白 describes a face that is "deathly pale" — paler and more alarming than 苍白. 憔悴 adds a look of tiredness and thinness, not just color.

adjective

deathly pale

Examples

惨白。
Tā xià dé liǎn dōu cǎn bái le.
He was so scared that even his face turned deathly pale.
惨白，。
Bìng rén liǎn sè cǎn bái, ràng rén dān xīn.
The patient's face is deathly pale, which is worrying.
，惨白。
Tīng dào nà ge xiāo xi, tā de liǎn sè biàn de cǎn bái.
After hearing that news, her face became deathly pale.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

惨 means dismal and 白 means pale, together describing a deathly pale look.

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.

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

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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