诧异

• Pinyin: chà yì
• Hanzi breakdown: 诧 = 讠(speech/heart) + 宅 (phonetic); 异 = 巳 (phonetic) + 廾 (hands)

Meaning

Surprised; astonished; taken aback. Feeling unexpected surprise at something.

More literary and formal than 惊讶. Implies a reaction of genuine disbelief or incomprehension. Often used in written narrative to describe a character's reaction. Common construction: 感到诧异, 令人诧异.

Examples

1. 他对这个结果感到十分诧异，因为一切迹象都表明结局应该截然相反。 He was greatly taken aback by this result, since every indication had suggested the outcome should have been the complete opposite.
2. 令人诧异的是，这家公司在行业普遍低迷的情况下，业绩竟然逆势上扬。 What astonished observers was that this company's performance surged against the trend at a time of widespread industry slump.
3. 她诧异地看着他，不明白他为何突然改变了之前一直坚持的立场。 She looked at him in astonishment, unable to understand why he had suddenly changed the position he had consistently held.

Usage Guide

Context: emotion, narrative, journalism, literature, description

Tone: surprised

Do Say

• 得知他辞去了那份待遇优厚的工作，同事们无不感到诧异。(On learning that he had resigned from such a well-paid job, his colleagues were all taken aback.)
• 令人诧异的是，这份极其复杂的报告竟然是他一个人在两天内完成的。(What astonished everyone was that this extremely complex report was completed single-handedly by him in just two days.)

Don't Say

• 他吃了一顿诧异的饭。(诧异 describes an emotional reaction, not a quality of food; use 惊喜 or 奇特 for surprising food experiences)

Origin & History

诧 (to be surprised, to feel strange) + 异 (strange, different). To find something strangely different from expectations.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal