对视 (duì shì) — to look each other in the eye, to gaze at each…

Definition

对视 means two people locking eyes face-to-face, often implying a charged or silent moment. It is more intense and mutual than just 看见 or 看到 — the focus is on sustained eye contact between two people, not one-way seeing.

verb

to look each other in the eyeto gaze at each other

Examples

对视，。
Tā men liǎ hù xiāng duì shì le yí xià, rán hòu xiào le.
The two of them looked at each other for a moment and then smiled.
，对视。
Zài miàn shì shí, nǐ yào zì xìn dì yǔ duì fāng duì shì.
During the interview, you should confidently look the other person in the eye.
对视，。
Tā men mò mò de duì shì zhe, yí jù huà yě méi shuō.
They silently gazed at each other without saying a word.

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.

对duìface to face

视shìlook

对 indicates facing each other, and 视 means to look; together they mean meeting one another's gaze.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 對; 对 is its simplified writing.

丵丵zhuótool for digging
土土tǔearth
又又yòuhand

For the traditional form 對, the shape comes from an early drawing of 丵 (a digging tool), 土 (earth), and 又 (a hand); it may have meant developing land.

Open 对 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 視; 视 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

見見jiànsee

Sound part声符shēngfú

示

示shì視shì

Same sound today

The story is about the traditional form 視: it combines 見, meaning see, with 示, which gives the sound shì.

Open 视 →

Appears in