jīng gōng zhī niǎo

Traditional: 驚弓之鳥

惊弓之鸟 (jīng gōng zhī niǎo) is a Chinese word meaning “lit. a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow (idiom); fig. sb who frightens easily, due to past experiences”.

Meanings

  1. 1lit. a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow (idiom)
  2. 2fig. sb who frightens easily, due to past experiences

Characters in 惊弓之鸟

惊jīng · to startle弓gōng · a bow (weapon)之zhī · (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5])鸟niǎo · bird

Related words

之(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5])之前before之后after; behind之间(after a noun) between; among; amid之一one of (sth)鸟bird鸟variant of 屌[diao3]惊喜nice surprise之类and so on惊讶amazed之中inside吃惊to be startled

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