冷水 (lěng shuǐ) means “cold water; unboiled water; fig. not yet ready (of plans)”. It is an HSK 6 Chinese word in the HSK 3.0 vocabulary.
Practice each character:
他被泼了一盆冷水。
Tā bèi pō le yī pén lěngshuǐ.
He was doused with cold water (fig. discouraged).
Updated: 2026-07-18