煞白 (shà bái) — deathly pale, ghastly pale

Definition

A vivid, somewhat literary way to describe a face that has turned extremely pale (from fear, shock, or illness) — not plain 'white', but a striking, almost sickly pallor.

verb
deathly paleghastly pale

Examples

  • 煞白。
    Tā xià dé liǎn dōu shà bái le.
    He was so scared his face turned ghastly pale.
  • 煞白。
    Tā shēng bìng de liǎn sè shà bái rú zhǐ.
    Her sick complexion was deathly pale like paper.
  • ，煞白。
    Kàn dào zhè ge xiāo xi, tā de liǎn sè lì kè shà bái le.
    Upon seeing this news, his complexion immediately turned ghastly 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.

煞shàextremely
白báipale

煞 “extremely” and 白 “pale” combine to mean deathly pale.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 煞 →

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.

Open 白 →

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