杀气 (shā qì) — a fierce, murderous look or expression; a menacing, dangerous atmosphere

Definition

An intense, threatening 'murderous aura' — the menacing vibe a person gives off through their eyes or presence. Reads as a literary, dramatic noun (常见于小说、影视), not a neutral description of anger.

noun
a fiercemurderous look or expressiona menacingdangerous atmosphere

Examples

  • 杀气。
    Tā de yǎn shén lǐ chōng mǎn le shā qì.
    His eyes were full of murderous aura.
  • 杀气，。
    Fáng jiān lǐ mí màn zhe yì gǔ shā qì, ràng rén hěn bù shū fu.
    The room was filled with a murderous atmosphere, making people very uncomfortable.
  • 杀气。
    Nà ge shā shǒu shēn shàng sàn fā chū lìng rén kǒng jù de shā qì.
    That killer exuded a terrifying murderous aura.

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shākilling
气qìair or atmosphere

杀 contributes killing and 气 contributes air or atmosphere, giving a killing atmosphere.

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 →

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 氣; 气 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
气
气qì氣qì
Same sound today

The traditional form 氣 pairs 米 (rice) with 气, which supplies the sound; the simplified 气 is a later abbreviation.

Open 气 →

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