慄然

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: The spelling is 慄然, read りつぜん, and it describes a shuddering state of fear or shock, commonly in the pattern 慄然とする.
• Basic usage: 慄然 describes feeling horrified or shuddering upon confronting a frightening sight or a grave fact.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Immediate visual fear and horror prompted by a record
  • Both examples use the form 慄然. One is a physical shudder at a figure in darkness; the other is horror on realizing the scale of damage described in an accident record.
• A figure emerging in darkness and the scale of accident damage
  • 暗闇に浮かぶ人影を見て慄然とした。 — I shuddered when I saw a figure emerge in the darkness.
  • 事故の記録を読み、被害の大きさに慄然とした。 — Reading the accident record left me horrified by the scale of the damage.