混淆视听 (hùn xiáo shì tīng) — to mislead the public; to confuse public perception or opinion

Definition

A formal idiom meaning to deliberately confuse or mislead the public's perception of the facts. Typically used for intentional, often deceptive actions by authorities or media.

idiom
to mislead the publicto confuse public perception or opinion

Examples

  • ，混淆视听。
    Tā men gù yì sàn bù jiǎ xiāo xi, mù dì shì hùn xiáo shì tīng.
    They deliberately spread false news with the aim of misleading the public.
  • 混淆视听，。
    Zhè zhǒng xíng wéi chún cuì shì wèi le hùn xiáo shì tīng, yǎn gài shì shí.
    This kind of behavior is purely to confuse public perception and cover up the truth.
  • ，混淆视听。
    Jì zhě men yīng gāi jiē lù zhēn xiàng, ér bú shì hùn xiáo shì tīng.
    Journalists ought to expose the truth, not confuse public opinion.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

混淆confuse
混hùnmix淆xiáoconfuse
联合Side by side
视听sight and hearing
视shìsee听tīnghear
联合Side by side

混 and 淆 together mean confuse, while 视 and 听 mean sight and hearing.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
昆
昆kūn混hùn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

混 pairs 氵 (water) on the left with 昆 on the right, which supplies the sound.

Open 混 →

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
水水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
肴
肴yáo淆
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

淆 is made of 水 (water) and 肴. The 水 part shows the meaning is about water, and the 肴 part shows how the character is pronounced.

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聽; 听 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 聽 has 耳 (ear) and 口 (mouth), used for listening; the simplified 听 is a later shortened form unrelated to that picture.

Open 听 →

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