惨白

• Pinyin: cǎn bái
• Desglose de hanzi: 惨 = 忄(heart radical) + 参 (phonetic); 白 = pictograph of brightness (thumb or candle), here modified by 惨 to imply ghastly rather than pure whiteness

Significado

lívido; pálido como un muerto (por susto, enfermedad o shock)

惨白 conveys both the visual appearance of extreme pallor and an implicit sense of distress or wretchedness. It is almost exclusively used to describe people's facial color (脸色惨白, 面色惨白) and occasionally the sky or landscape (月色惨白, 惨白的灯光). The prefix 惨 adds a dimension of wretchedness or tragedy that goes beyond mere paleness.

Ejemplos

1. 她听到噩耗的瞬间脸色惨白，颤抖着跌坐到椅子上，半天说不出一句话来。
2. 手术室外，父亲的面色惨白，双拳紧握，在走廊里来回踱步等待消息。
3. 那个深夜，惨白的月光铺满空旷的街道，让人心头涌起一种难以言说的压抑。

Guía de uso

Contexto: emotion, description, literature, health

Tono: somber

Correcto

• 他被吓得脸色惨白，好半天都没缓过神来。(He was so frightened that his face turned ghastly white, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses.)
• 病房里，她惨白的脸色让守在床边的家人揪心不已。(In the ward, her deathly pale complexion filled the family members at her bedside with deep worry.)

Incorrecto

• 这面墙漆得惨白惨白的，挺好看。(惨白 implies distress or wretchedness, not beauty — use 雪白 or 洁白 for an attractively white wall)

Origen e historia

惨 (wretched/tragic; 忄heart radical + 参 phonetic component) + 白 (white; pictograph originally of a thumb or candle representing brightness). The compound amplifies whiteness with an emotional dimension of wretchedness and distress.

Contexto cultural

Generación: All ages

Contexto social: Universal