📖 Meaning
Describes something that profoundly shocks or deeply moves a person, as if their very soul and spirit were shaken. It conveys an experience so intense it overwhelms one's emotions.
📜 Origin Story
惊魂夺魄 is a compound idiom formed by joining two classical expressions: 惊魂 (a startled or shaken soul) and 夺魄 (a spirit snatched away). Both components appear separately in earlier Chinese literature describing extreme fear or awe. The combined four-character form is a later synthesis with no single identifiable textual source, used to express a sensation so overwhelming that it seems to unsettle the soul itself.
💡 Example Usage
那场惊魂夺魄的车祸让他至今不敢再开车。
That soul-shattering car accident still keeps him from daring to drive again.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 惊魂夺魄
- Pinyin: jīng hún duó pò
- Literal Translation: startle, soul, snatch, spirit
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4