白日做梦 (bái rì zuò mèng) — to daydream; to indulge in wishful thinking (wi…

Definition

Literally 'daydreaming in broad daylight,' it criticizes an unrealistic fantasy as plainly impossible — stronger in tone than just 想象.

idiom

to daydreamto indulge in wishful thinking (with a critical tone, implying impossibility)

，白日做梦。
Tā xiǎng yí yè bào fù, jiǎn zhí shì bái rì zuò mèng.
He wants to get rich overnight — that's pure daydreaming.
，白日做梦？
Bù nǔ lì jiù xiǎng chéng gōng, nà bú shì bái rì zuò mèng ma?
Wanting to succeed without working hard — isn't that wishful thinking?
白日做梦！。
bái rì zuò mèng! Zhè jiàn shì gēn běn bù kě néng.
Daydreaming! This is completely impossible.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

白日daytime

偏正Modifier + head

做梦dream

动宾Verb + object

白日 is daytime and 做梦 is to dream, so the image is dreaming during daylight.

Characters in this word

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

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

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

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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 夢; 梦 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

瞢

瞢méng夢mèng

Same sound today

The traditional form 夢 pairs 夕 (night) with 瞢, which gives the sound; its older form showed a person lying with an eye emphasized.

Appears in