JLPT N2Four-character idioms
疑心暗鬼
- Meaning
- 疑い始めると何でもないことまで疑わしく見えてくること
- Explanation
- "疑心暗鬼" expresses that, when one has a doubting heart, even nothing at all comes to look suspicious and unsettling, as if the figure of a demon were visible in the dark. It is used in scenes describing a state gripped by suspicion. It is not a concrete action like c1's "avoiding going out at night", but a word expressing the workings of the mind.
Original Japanese explanation
「疑心暗鬼」は、疑う心があると、暗闇に鬼の姿が見えるように、何でもないことまで疑わしく不安に見えてくることを表します。猜疑心にとらわれた状態を述べる場面で使います。c1の「夜の外出を避ける」のような具体的な行動ではなく、心理の働きを表す語です。
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