惊 (jīng): to startle, to be frightened, to be scared
惊 (jīng) is a Chinese character meaning “to startle.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 忄 (semantic) and 京 (phonetic). It ranks #659 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 惊 heart. Its radical form 忄 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忙 (máng, busy), 快 (kuài, fast, happy), 怎 (zěn, how).
Definitions
- to startle
- to be frightened
- to be scared
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 惊 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 惊
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 惊喜adjective | jīng xǐ | nice surprise | 5 |
| 惊讶adjective | jīng yà | amazed | 6 |
| 吃惊verb | chī jīng | to be startled | 4 |
| 惊人adjective | jīng rén | astonishing | 6 |
| 大吃一惊verb | dà chī yī jīng | (idiom) astounded | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 震惊verb | zhèn jīng | to shock |
| 惊奇adjective | jīng qí | to be amazed |
| 惊慌adjective | jīng huāng | to panic |
| 惊吓verb | jīng xià | to frighten |
| 大惊小怪phrase | dà jīng xiǎo guài | to make a fuss about nothing (idiom) |
| 惊叹verb | jīng tàn | to exclaim in admiration |
| 受宠若惊phrase | shòu chǒng ruò jīng | overwhelmed by favor from superior (humble expr.) |
| 惊恐adjective | jīng kǒng | to be alarmed |
| 惊慌失措phrase | jīng huāng shī cuò | to lose one's head out of fear (idiom) |
| 受惊verb | shòu jīng | startled |
| 惊险adjective | jīng xiǎn | perilous |
| 惊醒verb | jīng xǐng | to rouse |
| 惊异adjective | jīng yì | amazed |
| 惊动verb | jīng dòng | to alarm |
| 担惊受怕phrase | dān jīng shòu pà | (idiom) apprehensive |
惊 appears in 101 compound words: 72 as the first character, 15 as the last, and 13 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 惊 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (31)
to give away your position through rash actions; to alert someone of your presence unwittingly
Showing 12 of 31 idioms containing 惊.
Example Sentences
听到这个惊人的消息，大家都目瞪口呆。
Tīng dào zhè gè jīngrén de xiāoxi, dàjiā dōu mùdèngkǒudāi.
Hearing this shocking news, everyone was stunned.
组图:太阳风暴来袭时 出现令人惊叹的极光
zǔ tú : tài yáng fēng bào lái xí shí chū xiàn lìng rén jīng tàn de jí guāng
Picture: Stunning aurora appears when a solar storm hits
(米兰冬奥会)惊喜与突破交织 中国冰雪向新而行
( mǐ lán dōng ào huì ) jīng xǐ yǔ tū pò jiāo zhī zhōng guó bīng xuě xiàng xīn ér háng
(Milan Winter Olympics) Surprises and breakthroughs are intertwined, and China's ice and snow are moving towards the new
《超夜》詹老师惊传过世!詹雅雯崩溃发声:太心痛了
chāo yè 詹 lǎo shī jīng chuán guò shì ! 詹 yǎ 雯 bēng kuì fā shēng : tài xīn tòng le
"Super Night" Teacher Zhan passed away! Zhan Yawen collapsed and spoke: It's so heartbreaking
南横公路惊传坠桥!骑士疑过弯失控撞护栏 坠17层楼...
nán héng gōng lù jīng chuán zhuì qiáo ! qí shì yí guò wān shī kòng zhuàng hù lán zhuì 1 7 céng lóu . . .
Nanheng Highway is shocked to hear that it fell off the bridge! The rider was suspected of losing control of the curve and crashing into the guardrail and fell 17 floors...
张艺谋回应在电影《惊蛰无声》中“间谍在垃圾桶交接手..
zhāng yì móu huí yīng zài diàn yǐng jīng 蛰 mó shēng zhōng jiān dié zài lā jī tǒng jiāo jiē shǒu . .
Zhang Yimou responds to "spies exchanging hands in garbage cans" in the movie "The Sting is Silent"...
汤姆惊讶得没有反应。
Tāngmǔ jīngyà de méiyǒu fǎnyìng.
Tom was too surprised to react.
汤姆、玛丽、约翰和爱丽丝都显得有些惊讶。
Tāngmǔ, Mǎlì, Yuēhàn hé àilìsī dōu xiǎnde yǒuxiē jīngyà.
Tom, Mary, John and Alice all looked somewhat surprised.
贝蒂似乎对这个消息感到惊讶。
Bèi dì sìhū duì zhège xiāoxi gǎndào jīngyà.
Betty seemed surprised at the news.
陪审团看起来很震惊。
Péishěntuán kànqǐlai hěn zhènjīng.
The jury looked shocked.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 忄 (heart) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 惊 (jīng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 惊 and 就?
How many strokes does 惊 have?
What is the radical of 惊?
What are the components of 惊?
What are common words containing 惊?
What characters sound the same as 惊 (jīng)?
Is 惊 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 惊 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.