哆嗦

• Pinyin: duō suo
• Hanzi breakdown: 哆 = 口 (mouth) + 多 (many) — many mouth movements, chattering; 嗦 = 口 (mouth) + 索 (rope/pull) — pulling the lips or teeth together

Meaning

To tremble; to shiver; to quiver. Involuntary physical shaking caused by cold, fear, excitement, or illness.

哆嗦 is colloquial and vividly describes involuntary physical trembling. Commonly combined with adverbs of cause: 冻得哆嗦 (shivering with cold), 吓得哆嗦 (trembling with fright), 浑身哆嗦 (trembling all over). The reduplication gives it an expressive, onomatopoeic quality.

Examples

1. 他站在风雪中等了一个多小时，冻得浑身哆嗦。 He waited in the wind and snow for over an hour and was shivering all over from the cold.
2. 听到那声巨响，她吓得哆嗦起来，手里的杯子差点摔落在地。 When she heard the loud bang, she started trembling with fear and nearly dropped the cup in her hand.
3. 老人激动得声音都在哆嗦，颤抖着接过了儿子从远方寄来的家书。 The elderly man was so excited that even his voice was trembling as he shook while taking the letter his son had mailed home from far away.

Usage Guide

Context: physical state, colloquial speech, narrative

Tone: descriptive

Do Say

• 他被抓住后，站在警察面前吓得两腿哆嗦，说话也结结巴巴，完全失去了平日的自信。(After being caught, he stood before the police trembling in his legs, stuttering as he spoke, having completely lost his usual confidence.)
• 深冬时节，孩子们在户外玩了太久，一个个冻得哆嗦着跑回屋里，围着暖炉取暖。(In the depths of winter, the children had played outside too long and came running back indoors shivering one by one, huddling around the stove for warmth.)

Don't Say

• 她哆嗦地完成了报告 — 哆嗦 describes involuntary physical shaking, not a manner of completing a task; for nervous delivery say 她紧张地完成了报告

Origin & History

Expressive reduplication — duōsuo mimics the sound and rhythm of shivering; both characters carry the mouth radical 口, evoking chattering teeth

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal