청천벽력

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 靑天 (“blue sky”) + 霹靂 (“thunderbolt”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕʰʌ̹ŋt͡ɕʰʌ̹nbjʌ̹ŋɲʌ̹k̚]
• Phonetic hangul: [청천병녁]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	cheongcheonbyeongnyeok
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	cheongcheonbyeoglyeog
McCune–Reischauer?	ch'ŏngch'ŏnbyŏngnyŏk
Yale Romanization?	chengchenpyeklyek

Noun

청천벽력 • (cheongcheonbyeongnyeok) (hanja 靑天霹靂)

1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese) bolt from the blue; sudden and unexpected bad news

   그는 청천벽력같은 소식을 알렸다.

   geuneun cheongcheonbyeongnyeokgateun sosigeul allyeotda.

   He told the sudden and unexpected bad news.

See also

• 벽력 (byeongnyeok, “bolt”)