細思恐極

Chinese

		fine; minutely; thin fine; minutely; thin; slender	to think; to consider	afraid; frightened; to fear	utmost; pole; extreme utmost; pole; extreme; to reach the limit
trad. (細思恐極)		細	思	恐	極
simp. (细思恐极)		细	思	恐	极
alternative forms		細思極恐／细思极恐
anagram		細思極恐／细思极恐
Literally: “carefully-think-afraid-extremely”.

Etymology

Shortened from the following phrase:

仔細想想，覺得恐怖至極。 [MSC, trad.]
仔细想想，觉得恐怖至极。 [MSC, simp.]

Zǐxì xiángxiǎng, juéde kǒngbù zhìjí. [Pinyin]

Thinking about it carefully, I find it extremely terrifying.

replacing 想 with 思 which is used more in written language, to make it resemble a genuine Chinese chengyu (idiom).

Made popular by a compilation of Internet neologisms posted on Sina Weibo on June 16, 2013.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xìsīkǒngjí

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧˋ ㄙ ㄎㄨㄥˇ ㄐㄧˊ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xìsīkǒngjí
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧˋ ㄙ ㄎㄨㄥˇ ㄐㄧˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sìsihkǒngjí
    • Wade–Giles: hsi⁴-ssŭ¹-kʻung³-chi²
    • Yale: syì-sz̄-kǔng-jí
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shihsykoongjyi
    • Palladius: сисыкунцзи (sisykunczi)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi⁵¹ sz̩⁵⁵ kʰʊŋ²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕi³⁵/

Phrase

細思恐極

1. (Mainland China, neologism, Internet slang) The more one thinks about it, the more petrified one becomes.