杀机 (shā jī) — murderous intent; thoughts of killing

Definition

A literary/formal word for 'murderous intent' — the urge or will to kill, often shown in a look or feeling. Unlike the plain verb 杀, it names the inner intent rather than the act.

noun

murderous intentthoughts of killing

Examples

杀机。
Tā yǎn zhōng shǎn guò yì sī shā jī.
A flash of murderous intent passed through his eyes.
杀机。
Zhè bù xiǎo shuō chōng mǎn le shā jī hé fù chóu.
This novel is full of murderous intent and revenge.
杀机。
Chóu hèn ràng tā xīn zhōng yǒng qǐ qiáng liè de shā jī.
Hatred made a strong murderous intent surge in his heart.

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.

杀shākill

机jīintent

杀 kill and 机 intent combine to mean murderous intent.

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.

人人rénperson
又又yòuright hand

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 →

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

木几机

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree; wood

Sound part声符shēngfú

几

几jǐ机jī

Same sound today

The left part is 木 (tree; wood), and the right part 几 gives the sound.

Open 机 →

Appears in