p8nda
p8nda BETA
Home Dictionary Discord

煞有介事

shàyǒujièshì
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 to make a big show of being serious about something trivial
  2. 2 to put on airs of great importance
  3. 3 to act as if something really matters (when it doesn't)

Examples

他煞有介事地清了清嗓子,其实什么也没说。
Tā shà yǒu jiè shì de qīng le qīng sǎngzi, qíshí shénme yě méi shuō.
He theatrically cleared his throat and then said nothing at all.
小孩子煞有介事地摆弄着玩具医疗箱。
Xiǎo háizi shà yǒu jiè shì de bǎinòng zhe wánjù yīliáo xiāng.
The child played with the toy medical kit as if it were the real thing.
他煞有介事地分析了半天,结论却很平常。
Tā shà yǒu jiè shì de fēnxī le bàntiān, jiélùn què hěn píngcháng.
He analyzed it with great ceremony for ages, but the conclusion was very ordinary.

Tips

culture
Originally a Jiangsu-Zhejiang dialect expression (吴语 area) meaning 'as if it were really something'. Written 煞 (shà, 'very/really') + 介 here is a dialect filler = 'this'.
mistakes
煞 is read shà (4th tone) here, not shā ('to kill'). The alternate writing 像煞有介事 is also seen, but 煞有介事 is the standard four-character form.

Stroke Order

煞 shà/shā
有 yǒu
介 jiè
事 shì