惊弓之鸟

Traditional: 驚弓之鳥

jīng gōng zhī niǎo

Dictionary entry

(lit.) a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow (idiom)

What does 惊弓之鸟 mean?

惊弓之鸟 (jīng gōng zhī niǎo) has the following dictionary meaning.

1(lit.) a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow (idiom)

2(fig.) sb who frightens easily, due to past experiences

Character breakdown

Open each character to see its own meanings and vocabulary links.

惊jīngto startle · to be frightened 弓Gōngsurname Gong 之zhī(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]) · him 鸟diǎovariant of 屌[diao3] · penis

Reviewed examples

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How to pronounce 惊弓之鸟

惊弓之鸟

jīng gōng zhī niǎo

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Base dictionary data: CC-CEDICT · CC BY-SA 4.0.