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心不在焉 (xīn bú zài yān) — absent-minded; inattentive; distracted

Definition

An idiom meaning 'absent-minded' — the mind is not where the body is. Use for someone's attention drifting away from the present moment (class, meeting, conversation).

idiom
absent-mindedinattentivedistracted

Examples

  • 心不在焉，。
    Tā shàng kè shí zǒng shì xīn bú zài yān, lǎo shī jiǎng shén me dōu méi tīng jìn qù.
    He is always absent-minded in class and doesn't take in anything the teacher says.
  • ，心不在焉，。
    Zuì jìn gōng zuò tài máng, wǒ jīng cháng xīn bú zài yān, lián yào shi dōu wàng le dài.
    I've been so busy with work lately that I'm often distracted, even forgetting to bring my keys.
  • 心不在焉，。
    Kāi huì shí tā xīn bú zài yān, gēn běn méi zhù yì huì yì nèi róng.
    He was absent-minded during the meeting and didn't pay attention to the content at all.

Origin

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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

The early form of 在 used 才 for its sound; a second sound part 士 was added later, and that 士 became the 土 seen in 在.

Open 在 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 焉 →
Appears in
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