倉そう皇こうとして

Meanings

Literary expression describing a state of rushing or acting with urgency. Rare in everyday speech; mostly found in written narratives.

彼かれは倉そう皇こうとして家うちを飛とび出だした。
He rushed out of the house in great haste.

Kanji

倉godown, warehouse, storehouse
皇emperor
蒼blue, pale
惶fear

Related words

慌あわてて
Common everyday word for 'in a hurry' or 'flustered'; 倉皇として is much more literary and formal.
急いそいで
Standard neutral word for 'hurriedly'; 倉皇として carries a stronger sense of flustered haste and is rarely used in conversation.

Written forms

倉そう皇こうとして
Literary kanji spelling; 倉皇 is a rare compound meaning 'hurried'.
蒼そう惶こうとして
Variant kanji spelling; 蒼惶 is also rare and literary.

Etymology

The expression 倉皇として derives from the classical Chinese compound 倉皇 (cānghuáng), meaning 'in a fluster' or 'hurriedly'. The Japanese reading そうこう is the on'yomi of the characters. The exact historical path into Japanese is uncertain, but it remains a literary borrowing.