paa3 sei2怕死
Jyutpingpaa3 sei2
Yalepa séi
Definition
To fear death; cowardly or afraid of failure.
colloquialpeopleemotion
How it's used
Beyond the literal meaning of fearing death, this is frequently used as a mild insult to describe someone who is overly cautious, risk-averse, or cowardly. It often appears in social contexts where someone refuses to participate in an activity because they are worried about potential negative consequences. Using it towards friends can be playful, but it carries a stronger sense of judgment than simply calling someone timid.
Examples
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with being physically afraid of dying in a medical sense. When used to describe a person, it almost always refers to their personality or lack of courage in everyday situations.
Grammar color guide
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Grammar guides
- Directional complementsThe small words added after a verb to show direction of movement, like up, down, out, in, and back. Common in everyday Cantonese.
- DemonstrativesThis and that with 呢 and 嗰, the personal pronouns, and how 哋 turns I, you, and he into we, you all, and they.
- Resultative complementsSticking a result word onto a verb to show how it turned out, like eat until full or look and find. A productive everyday pattern.
