慑 (shè) · to intimidate, to frighten

Meanings

1 to intimidate
2 to frighten
3 to be cowed; to fear

Characters

慑

shè

to fear; to intimidate (single-character bound form)

Examples

HSK 7-9

他的目光令人感到慑人心魄。

Tā de mùguāng lìngrén gǎndào shè rénxīn pò.

His gaze was soul-shaking and intimidating.

HSK 7-9

敌人被我军的气势所慑，不敢进攻。

Dírén bèi wǒjūn de qìshì suǒ shè, bù gǎn jìngōng.

The enemy was intimidated by our army's momentum and dared not attack.

Tips

usage

慑 is a formal/literary bound form. It almost always appears in compounds: 震慑 (to awe/overpower), 慑服 (to cow into submission), 慑人 (intimidating).

Components

radical

忄 xīn

heart (radical form of 心)

Left heart radical, the upright side form of 心. It marks 慑 as an emotional state - specifically the inward feeling of fear or awe. Same family: 怕 afraid, 怖 dread, 惊 alarmed, 慌 panic, 惧 fear. Wherever you see 忄 you are looking at something happening inside the mind, not in the body.

phonetic

聂 niè

whisper; surname Nie (here phonetic)

Right side 聂 supplies the sound, niè drifting to shè through historical sibilant alternation. Same phonetic powers 摄 take in / photograph, 镊 tweezers. 聂 itself stacks three 耳 ears in the traditional form - the picture of three people huddled in whispered conference. Faint semantic flavor: to be 慑 is to feel cowed enough to keep your voice down.