潸然泪下

shān rán lèi xià

to shed tears quietly

Character by character

潸shān
tearful

然rán
-ly

泪lèi
tears

下xià
fall

读完母亲的来信，他忍不住潸然泪下。

When he finished his mother’s letter he could not help quietly shedding tears.

Tone: neutral.

Written and gentle: silent tears, not sobbing. Very common as 令人潸然泪下 (moving people to tears) in reviews and reports.

Learn this in Lesson 222 · HSK 9+: 朱自清的散文 (Zhu Ziqing and the modern essay)

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.