📖 Meaning
Face as pale as ashes. It describes someone whose complexion has gone deathly pale, usually because of extreme fear, shock, or despair. The phrase paints a vivid picture of a person drained of all color and life.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from a Tang dynasty tale by 皇甫枚 (Huangfu Mei) in his work 《三水小牍》(The Little Records of Sanhui), in the story of 王知古 (Wang Zhigu). In one scene, an old wet nurse suddenly shrieks, collapses to the ground, and rises with a face as pale as dead ashes, rushing back into the house without so much as a backward glance. The striking image of her pallor became a fixed phrase for a face drained of color by terror.
💡 Example Usage
听到这个噩耗，他顿时色如死灰，半天说不出一句话。
Hearing the dreadful news, his face turned as pale as ashes and he could not speak a word for a long while.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 色如死灰
- Pinyin: sè rú sǐ huī
- Literal Translation: color, like, dead, ash
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4