恍如隔世 (huǎng rú gé shì) — (idiom) as if a lifetime has passed; a feeling of drastic change making the past seem like another world

Definition

An idiom describing the disorienting feeling that familiar things have changed so much the past feels like another lifetime. Common with 之感 / 的感觉 to name the emotion.

idiom
as if a lifetime has passeda feeling of drastic change making the past seem like another world

Examples

  • ，恍如隔世。
    Huí dào xiǎo shí hou zhù de dì fāng, zhēn yǒu huǎng rú gé shì zhī gǎn.
    Returning to the place where I lived as a child, I truly felt as if a lifetime had passed.
  • ，，恍如隔世。
    Shí nián hòu zài jiàn, yí qiè biàn huà tài dà, ràng rén huǎng rú gé shì.
    Meeting again after ten years, everything had changed so much it felt like another life.
  • ，恍如隔世。
    Fān kàn lǎo zhào piàn, tā yǒu yì zhǒng huǎng rú gé shì de gǎn jué.
    Looking through old photos, he had a feeling that a whole lifetime had passed.

Origin

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
光
光guāng恍huǎng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

恍 combines 忄 (heart) with 光 (guāng); the heart part relates to the meaning, and 光 points to the sound.

Open 恍 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
女
女nǚ如rú
Same sound today

如 is built from 口 (mouth) for its meaning and 女 (woman) for its sound.

Open 如 →

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
阝Written in full as阜fùwall
Sound part声符shēngfú
鬲
鬲gé隔gé
Same sound today

隔 puts 阝, a wall, with 鬲, which gives the sound gé, to show separating with a wall.

Open 隔 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 世 →

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