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恍惚 (huǎng hū) — absent-minded, in a daze; vague, dim (of perception, memory)

Definition

恍惚 describes a vague, dazed mental state — either physically absent-minded (神情恍惚, sitting in a daze) or with dim, fading memories (记忆恍惚, can't recall clearly).

adjective
absent-mindedin a dazevaguedim (of perception, memory)

Examples

  • 恍惚。
    Tā jīn tiān jīng shén yǒu xiē huǎng hū.
    He's a bit dazed today.
  • 恍惚，。
    Tā shén qíng huǎng hū, zuò zài nà lǐ fā dāi.
    She sat there in a daze, staring blankly.
  • 恍惚，。
    Nà jiàn shì wǒ jì yì huǎng hū, jì bù qīng le.
    My memory of that is vague; I can't recall clearly.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

恍huǎng
惚hū

The characters 恍 and 惚 carry no independent meaning here; together they describe a distracted or vague state.

Sound-only characters

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
忄Written in full as心xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
忽
忽hū惚
Same sound today

惚 puts 忄, the side form of 心, on the left with 忽 on the right; 心 marks the mind or heart, and 忽 gives the sound.

Appears in
Mental Health

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