心神不定

xīnshén-bùdìng
idiom #33,434

Meanings

  1. 1 distracted and uneasy
  2. 2 in a state of mental agitation
  3. 3 restless in mind

Examples

HSK 3
Kǎoshì qián tā zǒngshì xīnshén-bùdìng.
He always feels restless and uneasy before exams.
HSK 3
Tīngdào nàge xiāoxi hòu, tā zhěngtiān xīnshén-bùdìng.
After hearing the news, she was distracted and unsettled all day.

Tips

history
Attested in Cao Xueqin's 《红楼梦》 (Dream of the Red Chamber, ch. 113), where the variant 心神不宁 describes someone 'unsettled in mind, as if seeing ghosts'. The 不定 / 不宁 endings are interchangeable - both mean 'not settled'.
usage
Synonym 心神不宁 is more frequent today; the two are fully interchangeable.

Stroke Order

xīn
shén
dìng