Chinese word

一身

Pronunciation

Pinyinyī shēn

Meaning

  • nounwhole body

Example

孩子一身泥巴。hái zi yì shēn ní bā

The child's whole body is covered in mud.

Illustration for 一身 (whole body)

More examples

手术后，她一身病痛，暂时不能上班。shǒu shù hòu tā yì shēn bìng tòng zàn shí bù néng shàng bān

After surgery, she had pain all over her body and could not work for a while.

Core concept

The body viewed as one complete physical whole, especially in a visible condition from head to toe.

Common phrases

  • 一身疲惫yì shēn pí bèi

    exhausted all over

  • 一身轻松yì shēn qīng sōng

    relaxed all over

Similar words

全身quán shēn: The complete body, referring neutrally to all of its parts.
身上shēn shàng: On the body or its surface, including something related to the body.
浑身hún shēn: All through the body, showing that a condition reaches from the outside toward the inside.
满身mǎn shēn: Covering all parts of the body with a particular condition or substance.

Definition in Chinese

表示整个身体，常用于描述衣物或身体所处的状态。biǎo shì zhěng gè shēn tǐ cháng yòng yú miáo shù yī wù huò shēn tǐ suǒ chù de zhuàng tài

Word origin

一 (yī, "one") + 身 (shēn, "body") presents the body as a single complete whole.

Usage tips

  • In conversation, it often modifies a noun naming a visible condition, making a description compact and natural rather than word-for-word English.

Opposites

Related words

  • 一身而退yì shēn ér tuìleave empty-handedidiom

Word lists with this word