📖 Meaning
Describes a state of extreme panic and terror. It depicts someone so thoroughly frightened that they seem to have lost both their spirit and their courage. The phrase conveys a profound, overwhelming level of fear that completely destabilizes a person.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom appears in Ba Jin's modern essay "Living Among Heroes" (《生活在英雄们的中间》). In the passage, Ba Jin vividly describes the imposing figure, broad shoulders, and heroic spirit of a soldier, noting how his awe-inspiring presence caused a group of British Royal Army soldiers—separated from their main force—to be utterly terrified. The phrase fuses two earlier concepts: losing one's soul (失魂) and losing one's gall (丧胆), combining them into a single intensified expression of dread.
💡 Example Usage
敌军被游击队的突袭吓得失魂丧胆，纷纷丢下武器四散逃窜。
The enemy troops were so terrified by the guerrillas' surprise attack that they lost all courage, dropping their weapons and fleeing in all directions.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 失魂丧胆
- Pinyin: shī hún sàng dǎn
- Literal Translation: lose, soul, lose, courage
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4