吃惊 (chījīng) — to be surprised; to be shocked

吃惊 (chījīng)

吃惊 describes the involuntary feeling of surprise or shock that comes when something unexpected occurs.

Meanings

1. [verb] To be surprised, to be shocked, to be startled (by something unexpected).

Example Sentences

当她得知自己获得了奖学金时，不禁大吃一惊。 Dāng tā dézhī zìjǐ huòdé le jiǎngxuéjīn shí, bùjīn dà chī yī jīng. When she found out she had received the scholarship, she could not help but be completely shocked.

他的突然离职让整个团队都感到十分吃惊。 Tā de tūrán lízhí ràng zhěnggè tuánduì dōu gǎndào shífēn chījīng. His sudden resignation left the entire team very surprised.

研究人员对这一实验结果感到非常吃惊，因为它完全出乎意料。 Yánjiū rényuán duì zhè yī shíyàn jiéguǒ gǎndào fēicháng chījīng, yīnwèi tā wánquán chūhū yìliào. The researchers were very surprised by the experimental result, as it was completely unexpected.

令人吃惊的是，这座小镇竟然拥有世界级的博物馆。 Lìng rén chījīng de shì, zhè zuò xiǎo zhèn jìngrán yōngyǒu shìjiè jí de bówùguǎn. What was surprising was that this small town actually had a world-class museum.

Collocations

Usage Notes

吃惊 is an intransitive verb and cannot take a direct object. To say what caused the surprise, use 对...感到吃惊 or 让...吃惊. The intensified form 大吃一惊 (to be greatly shocked) is extremely common in both spoken and written Chinese. Compare with 惊讶 (surprised/astonished), which is an adjective and can be used as 感到惊讶 or 他很惊讶.

Memory Hook

吃 means "to eat" and 惊 means "fright" — in Chinese, when you are shocked, you "eat the fright," as if you have swallowed your own gasp of surprise.