悚 (sǒng): frightened

Meanings

1 frightened
2 terrified
3 horrified

Characters

悚

sǒng

frightened; terrified

Examples

这部电影让人毛骨悚然。

Zhèbù diànyǐng ràng rén máogǔsǒngrán.

This movie is hair-raisingly terrifying.

他听到一个令人悚然的声音。

Tā tīngdào yīgè lìngrén sǒng rán de shēngyīn.

He heard a horrifying sound.

惊悚片是他最喜欢的电影类型。

Jīng sǒng piān shì tā zuì xǐhuān de diànyǐng lèixíng.

Thrillers are his favorite type of movie.

Tips

usage

悚 is rarely used alone. It appears in compounds: 毛骨悚然 (máogǔsǒngrán, hair-raising), 惊悚 (jīngsǒng, thriller/horrifying), 悚然 (sǒngrán, terrified).

Components

radical

忄 xīn

heart (left-side radical form of 心)

Left-side heart radical, the vertical form of 心 used on the left of compound characters. Indexes 悚 in the emotion family with 怕 to fear, 怖 dread, 惧 to be afraid, 惊 startled. 悚 names the specific feeling of hair-raising terror — fear that makes you shiver.

phonetic

束 shù

to bind; bundle (here phonetic)

Right 束 supplies the sound — shù shifts to sǒng, a regular sh-/s- alternation in this phonetic family (速 sù fast also relates). Faint visual reinforcement too: a bound, knotted heart matches the squeezed-tight feeling of dread the character names.