不寒而栗

不寒而慄

bùhán'érlì

idiom #38,078

Meanings

1 to shiver though not cold
2 to tremble with fear
3 to be terrified

Characters

to tremble; shudder

Examples

一想到当时的情景，我就不寒而栗。

Yī xiǎngdào dāngshí de qíngjǐng, wǒ jiù bù hán ér lì.

Just thinking of that scene makes me shiver with fear.

凶案现场让人不寒而栗。

Xiōng'àn xiànchǎng ràng rén bù hán ér lì.

The crime scene was enough to make anyone's blood run cold.

听完他的故事，大家都不寒而栗。

Tīngwán tā de gùshi, dàjiā dōu bù hán ér lì.

After hearing his story, everyone was chilled to the bone.

Tips

history

From 《史记·酷吏列传》: the Han official Yi Zong executed over four hundred prisoners in a single day, and afterwards the whole commandery '不寒而栗' — shivered though not cold. The story fixed the idiom's emphasis on terror rather than cold.

memory

栗 (lì) here is the verb 'to tremble' (not the chestnut). 不寒而栗 = 'not cold, yet trembling' — shivering purely from fear.

Stroke Order

不 bù

寒 hán

而 ér

栗 lì