Chinese word

鸦雀无声

Pronunciation

Pinyinyā què wú shēng

Meaning

  • idiomdead silent

Example

他一开口，会议室里就变得鸦雀无声。tā yì kāi kǒu huì yì shì lǐ jiù biàn de yā què wú shēng

As soon as he spoke, the meeting room went dead silent.

Illustration for 鸦雀无声 (dead silent)

More examples

演讲结束后，礼堂鸦雀无声。yán jiǎng jié shù hòu lǐ táng yā què wú shēng

After the speech ended, the auditorium was dead silent.

Core concept

A whole scene falls into complete silence when a remark or event stops every ordinary sound.

Common phrases

  • 会场鸦雀无声huì chǎng yā què wú shēng

    a dead-silent venue

  • 礼堂鸦雀无声lǐ táng yā què wú shēng

    a dead-silent auditorium

  • 教室鸦雀无声jiào shì yā què wú shēng

    a dead-silent classroom

Similar words

默不作声mò bú zuò shēng: Describes remaining silent instead of speaking.
万籁无声wàn lài wú shēng: Describes complete silence in a place, with no sounds at all.
不声不响bù shēng bù xiǎng: Describes a quiet state or action carried out without a sound.

Definition in Chinese

用于描写场面因某事或某人一句话而陷入毫无声响的沉寂。yòng yú miáo xiě chǎng miàn yīn mǒu shì huò mǒu rén yí jù huà ér xiàn rù háo wú shēng xiǎng de chén jì

Word origin

鸦雀无声 (yāquèwúshēng, "crows and sparrows make no sound") uses 鸦 (yā, "crow") and 雀 (què, "sparrow") with 无声 (wúshēng, "without sound") to picture even common birds falling silent.

Usage tips

  • This idiom describes a whole room, meeting, or crowd rather than one person who chooses not to speak, so it suits scene-setting better than describing an individual speaker.

Other meanings

  • not a soundidiom

Opposites

Word lists with this word