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疑惑 (yí huò) — (verb) to doubt; to be puzzled about; (noun) doubt; suspicion; uncertainty

Definition

疑惑 emphasizes a puzzled, uncertain feeling — 'doubt' as inner unease. 怀疑 (HSK 4) is the more neutral 'to doubt / be skeptical of'; 疑虑 is a stronger, more formal near-synonym with the same feel.

verb
to doubtto be puzzled about
noun
doubtsuspicionuncertainty

Examples

  • 疑惑。
    Wǒ duì cǐ shì gǎn dào fēi cháng yí huò.
    I feel very puzzled about this matter.
  • 疑惑。
    Tā de yǎn zhōng chōng mǎn le yí huò.
    His eyes were full of doubt.
  • 疑惑。
    Dà jiā duì tā de shuō fǎ shí fēn yí huò.
    Everyone was very skeptical of his statement.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

疑yídoubt
惑huòconfuse

Both 疑 and 惑 express uncertainty, together meaning doubt or to puzzle over.

Characters in this word

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

  • 大大dàstanding human figure
  • 夂夂zhǐtilted head with open mouth
  • 丨丨gǔncane

疑 depicts a standing figure 大 with a tilted, open-mouthed head 夂 and a cane 丨, a confused person looking around for direction.

Open 疑 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò惑huò
Same sound today

惑 uses 或 for the sound and 心, the heart, for the meaning.

Open 惑 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Thinking & Cognition

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