目瞪口呆 mù dèng kǒu dāi speechless

Explanation

目瞪口呆的意思是形容因吃惊或害怕而发愣的样子。

The idiom “目瞪口呆” means to describe someone who is stunned or bewildered by surprise or fear. It can also be used to describe someone who is speechless.

Origin Story

唐朝时候，有一个叫李白的诗人，他很喜欢喝酒，而且喝醉了酒就喜欢说一些奇怪的话。有一次，他在酒馆里喝得酩酊大醉，突然指着天空大声说道：“我有一壶酒，可以邀月对饮。”酒馆里的其他人听到他这样说，都目瞪口呆，觉得他疯了。

táng cháo shí hòu，yǒu yī gè jiào lǐ bái de shī rén，tā hěn xǐ huan hē jiǔ，ér qiě hē zuì le jiǔ jiù xǐ huan shuō yī xiē qí guài de huà。yǒu yī cì，tā zài jiǔ quán lǐ hē de míng dǐng dà zuì，tū rán zhǐ zhe tiān kōng dà shēng shuō dào：“wǒ yǒu yī hú jiǔ，kě yǐ yāo yuè duì yǐn。”jiǔ quán lǐ de qí tā rén tīng dào tā zhè yàng shuō，dōu mù dèng kǒu dāi，jué de tā fēng le。

In the Tang Dynasty, there was a poet named Li Bai who loved to drink, and when he got drunk, he liked to say strange things. One time, he was drunk in a tavern and suddenly pointed at the sky and said loudly: “I have a pot of wine, I can drink with the moon.” Others in the tavern heard him say this, all were dumbfounded, they thought he was crazy.

Usage

目瞪口呆这个成语通常用来形容人们在遇到突然或意外的事情时，感到惊讶、害怕或震惊时的反应。

mù dèng kǒu dāi zhè ge chéng yǔ tóng cháng yòng lái xíng róng rén men zài yù dào tū rán huò yì wài de shì qíng shí，gǎn dào jīng yà，hài pà huò zhèn jīng shí de fǎn yìng。

The idiom “目瞪口呆” is often used to describe people's reaction when they encounter something sudden or unexpected, which surprises, frightens, or shocks them.

Examples

• 听到这个消息，他顿时目瞪口呆，说不出话来。

  tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi，tā dùn shí mù dèng kǒu dāi，shuō bù chū huà lái。

  He was speechless when he heard the news.

• 看到眼前这壮丽的景色，我们都目瞪口呆。

  kàn dào yǎn qián zhè zhuàng lì de jǐng sè，wǒ men dōu mù dèng kǒu dāi。

  We were speechless when we saw the magnificent scenery.

• 他目瞪口呆地看着老师，不知道该说什么。

  tā mù dèng kǒu dāi dì kàn zhe lǎo shī，bù zhī dào gāi shuō shén me。

  He stared at the teacher with his mouth open, not knowing what to say.

Related Idioms

• 瞠目结舌

• 目瞪口哆

• 惊慌失措

Opposite Idioms

• 镇定自若

• 泰然自若