📖 Meaning
Describes a state of extreme distraction and unease, as if one's spirit has detached from the body. It conveys a sense of being so unsettled or frightened that one cannot pull themselves together. The idiom is often used when someone is startled, terrified, or deeply agitated to the point of losing composure.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom first appears in the Yuan dynasty play 'Dong Qiang Ji' (The Story of the Eastern Wall) by the renowned playwright Bai Pu. In the first act, a character laments already feeling physically unwell, and then upon encountering a certain person, becomes so agitated that their spirit seems to leave their body. The phrase captures the feeling of being so emotionally overwhelmed that one loses all sense of groundedness, a vivid metaphor that has endured in Chinese literary tradition.
💡 Example Usage
听到这个消息，他吓得神不附体。
Upon hearing the news, he was so terrified that he felt his spirit leave his body.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 神不附体
- Pinyin: shén bù fù tǐ
- Literal Translation: spirit, not, attach, body
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4