Definitions

1. Adjective:
   • Extremely frightened, terrified: Describes a state of being scared to the point of losing composure or being startled out of one's wits.
   • Horrified, aghast: Expresses a profound reaction of shock and fear.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Nghe tiếng nổ, nó kinh hồn bỏ chạy. (Hearing the explosion, he was terrified and ran away.)
  • Câu chuyện ma khiến đứa trẻ kinh hồn. (The ghost story left the child horrified.)
  • Tôi kinh hồn khi thấy con rắn trong phòng. (I was frightened out of my wits when I saw the snake in the room.)

Advanced Usage

• "Kinh hồn bạt vía": An intensified idiom meaning "scared to death" or "scared out of one's wits," emphasizing extreme terror.
  • Cảnh tượng đó khiến mọi người kinh hồn bạt vía. (That scene scared everyone to death.)
• "Làm kinh hồn": To frighten someone severely.
  • Tiếng động lạ trong đêm làm kinh hồn cả nhà. (The strange noise at night frightened the whole family terribly.)

Variants and Related Words

• Kinh sợ (verb/adjective): To fear, to dread; fearful. (Less intense than "kinh hồn").
• Kinh hoàng (adjective): Horrifying, horrific. Often describes the terrifying nature of an event itself.
• Hồn xiêu phách lạc (idiom): Another idiom meaning "scared out of one's wits," similar to "kinh hồn bạt vía."

Synonyms

• Sợ hãi: To be afraid, fearful. (A more general term).
• Khiếp sợ: To be terrified, to dread.
• Hoảng sợ: To panic, to be frightened suddenly.

Related Phrases (Collocations)

• Kinh hồn táng đởm: A variant of "kinh hồn bạt vía," with the same meaning of extreme fright.
• Mất kinh hồn: To be scared stiff, to lose one's nerve from fear.

Related Idioms

• Kinh hồn is itself often part of idiomatic expressions, as shown above ("kinh hồn bạt vía"). It vividly conveys a state where one's "spirit" () is startled or shocked.

1. Be frightened out of one's wits