一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳 / 一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井繩

yī​zhāo​bèi​shé​yǎo​shí​nián​pà​jǐng​shéng

once bitten, twice shy

Literally "once bitten by a snake, for ten years one fears a well rope"; used to describe being overly cautious after a single traumatic experience.

一朝 (literal) → 一朝 · yī​zhāo · one day 被 (literal) → 被 · bèi · [passive] 蛇 (literal) → 蛇 · shé · snake 咬 (literal) → 咬 · yǎo · to bite ， (non_chinese) 十 (literal) → 十 · shí · ten 年 (literal) → 年 · nián · year 怕 (literal) → 怕 · pà · to fear 井绳 (literal) → 井绳/井繩 · jǐng​shéng · well rope

Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:58 PM