📖 Meaning
Describes a mournful, chilling sound of wailing and crying. The imagery of howling wolves and weeping ghosts conveys an atmosphere of despair and suffering. It is used to depict cries so pitiful and terrifying that they unsettle the listener.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Qing dynasty novel Dream of the Red Chamber (红楼梦) by Cao Xueqin, Chapter 58. In the passage, a character rebukes someone for beating a person so severely that their cries were as mournful and eerie as wolves howling and ghosts weeping. The phrase uses the unsettling imagery of wolves and ghosts to emphasize the terrifying and pitiful nature of the sounds produced.
💡 Example Usage
深夜的山村里传来狼号鬼哭的声音，让人毛骨悚然。
In the mountain village deep at night came sounds of mournful wailing like wolves and ghosts, making one's hair stand on end.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 狼号鬼哭
- Pinyin: láng háo guǐ kū
- Literal Translation: wolf, howl, ghost, cry
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4