泣不成声 (qì bù chéng shēng) — to weep bitterly, sobbing so hard that one cannot utter a sound

Definition

Idiom for crying so hard you can't speak. Used for intense grief or being overwhelmed by emotion.

idiom
to weep bitterly, sobbing so hard that one cannot utter a sound

Examples

  • ，泣不成声，。
    Tīng dào zhè ge è hào, tā qì bù chéng shēng, yí jù huà yě shuō bù chū lái.
    Upon hearing this terrible news, she sobbed so hard she couldn't say a word.
  • ，泣不成声。
    Diàn yǐng jié wěi tài gǎn rén le, guān zhòng men qì bù chéng shēng.
    The ending of the movie was so moving that the audience was sobbing uncontrollably.
  • 泣不成声，。
    Tā zài mǔ qīn de mù qián qì bù chéng shēng, huí yì zhe guò qù de diǎn diǎn dī dī.
    He wept bitterly at his mother's grave, recalling bits and pieces of the past.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
立
立lì泣qì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

泣 pairs 氵 (water) with 立 for the sound. It originally meant tears and later came to mean crying.

Open 泣 →

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
戊戊wù
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng成chéng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

Open 成 →

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 聲; 声 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
耳耳ěrear
Sound part声符shēngfú
殸
殸qìng聲shēng
Same sound today

The traditional form 聲 pairs 耳 (ear) with 殸 as a sound part; the simplified 声 is a shorthand and does not show those original parts.

Open 声 →

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