扣人心弦

kòu rén xīn xián

gripping; thrilling; nail-biting

Character by character

扣kòu
pluck

人rén
people’s

心xīn
heart

弦xián
strings

这部电影的结尾扣人心弦，观众都屏住了呼吸。

The ending of the film is so gripping that the audience held its breath.

Tone: positive (praise).

扣 here is to pluck a string, not to button up. Collocates with 比赛, 情节, 时刻 and 一幕: 扣人心弦的一幕.

Learn this in Lesson 115 · HSK 7–9: 郑钦文巴黎夺金 (Sport: gold in Paris)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.