Chinese word

难以置信

Pronunciation

Pinyinnán yǐ zhì xìn

Meaning

  • adjectiveunbelievable

Example

这件事真让人难以置信。zhè jiàn shì zhēn ràng rén nán yǐ zhì xìn

This is really unbelievable.

Illustration for 难以置信 (unbelievable)

More examples

他的表现令人难以置信。tā de biǎo xiàn lìng rén nán yǐ zhì xìn

His performance was unbelievable.

Core concept

A reaction to something so unexpected that accepting it as true feels out of reach.

Common phrases

  • 令人难以置信lìng rén nán yǐ zhì xìn

    unbelievable

  • 难以置信的差距nán yǐ zhì xìn de chā jù

    unbelievable gap

  • 难以置信的发现nán yǐ zhì xìn de fā xiàn

    unbelievable discovery

Similar words

不可置信bù kě zhì xìn: Describes something that remains hard to believe despite signs that it is true.
不可思议bù kě sī yì: Describes something remarkably strange and hard to explain by ordinary ideas.

Definition in Chinese

表示某事非常出人意料或难以接受其真实性，使人很难相信是真的。biǎo shì mǒu shì fēi cháng chū rén yì liào huò nán yǐ jiē shòu qí zhēn shí xìng shǐ rén hěn nán xiāng xìn shì zhēn de

Word origin

难以置信 (nányǐzhìxìn, "unbelievable") combines 难以 (nányǐ, "difficult to") with 置信 (zhìxìn, "believe"), giving the literal idea that belief is difficult.

Usage tips

  • Its formal tone makes it common in news reports and written comments, while spontaneous conversation often favors shorter reaction forms.

Other meanings

  • impossibleadjective

Opposites

Word lists with this word