be always on tenterhooks

be always on tenterhooks

Fear, a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is j ī NGX ī NDI à OD ǎ n, which means to describe very afraid or worried. From a dream of Red Mansions by Cao Xueqin in Qing Dynasty.

Idiom usage

He came downstairs in fear at dawn.

Analysis of Idioms

Synonyms: fear and fear

The origin of Idioms

The first and second chapters of Cao Xueqin's a dream of Red Mansions in Qing Dynasty: "no, we are also scared here."

Idiom explanation

Very afraid or worried.