冷眼 (lěng yǎn) — cool detachment; dispassionate observation; cold shoulder; unfriendly treatment

Definition

A literary noun with two senses: detached, observer-style looking (冷眼旁观) or the unfriendly 'cold shoulder' (用冷眼看她). The second is more colloquial than 冷落.

noun
cool detachmentdispassionate observationcold shoulderunfriendly treatment

Examples

  • ，。
    Tā duì zhè jiàn shì yì zhí lěng yǎn páng guān, méi yǒu fā biǎo yì jiàn.
    He has been looking on with cool detachment at this matter and hasn't expressed an opinion.
  • ，冷眼，。
    Tā jìn mén shí, dà jiā dōu yòng lěng yǎn kàn tā, ràng tā hěn bù shū fu.
    When she entered, everyone gave her the cold shoulder, making her very uncomfortable.
  • ，冷眼。
    Zuò wéi jì zhě, tā xí guàn yòng lěng yǎn guān chá shè huì xiàn xiàng.
    As a journalist, he is used to observing social phenomena with cool detachment.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

冷lěngcold
眼yǎneye

A “cold” “eye” suggests detached, unfriendly observation.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
冫Written in full as仌bīngice
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng冷lěng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

冷 uses 冫, the ice form, with 令 as a sound part, to mean cold as ice.

Open 冷 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
目目mùeye
Sound part声符shēngfú
艮
艮gèn眼yǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

眼 combines 目, which is an eye, with 艮, which gives the character's sound.

Open 眼 →

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