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杀人不眨眼 (shā rén bù zhǎ yǎn) — (idiom) cold-blooded, ruthless, remorseless (lit. 'kill people without blinking')

Definition

A vivid chengyu meaning 'kill without blinking' — describes a cold-blooded, utterly ruthless person. Stronger and more graphic than plain 冷酷, used for villains, tyrants, or brutal criminals.

idiom
cold-bloodedruthlessremorseless (lit. 'kill people without blinking')

Examples

  • 杀人不眨眼，。
    Tā kě shì gè shā rén bù zhǎ yǎn de zuì fàn, jǐng chá zhuī le tā sān nián.
    He is a cold-blooded criminal — the police have chased him for three years.
  • 杀人不眨眼，。
    Xiǎo shuō lǐ de fǎn pài shā rén bù zhǎ yǎn, ràng rén bù hán ér lì.
    The villain in the novel kills without batting an eye, which sends chills down your spine.
  • 杀人不眨眼。
    Lì shǐ shàng què shí yǒu shā rén bù zhǎ yǎn de bào jūn.
    History truly has had ruthless tyrants who kill without blinking.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 殺; 杀 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 殺 comes from an old drawing of a boar impaled in the head, with 人 and 又 added to show a person doing the killing; the simplified 杀 is a later abbreviation.

Open 杀 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 眨 →

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mùeye
Sound part声符shēngfú
艮
艮gèn眼yǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

眼 combines 目, which is an eye, with 艮, which gives the character's sound.

Open 眼 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set PhrasesPersonality & Traits

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