视若无睹 (shì ruò wú dǔ) — to turn a blind eye to; to deliberately ignore

Definition

An idiom meaning 'to turn a blind eye to' — implies deliberately ignoring something one has clearly seen, not just failing to notice. Stronger than simply 'not paying attention'; the speaker is accusing the subject of willful blindness.

idiom

to turn a blind eye toto deliberately ignore

Examples

视若无睹，。
Tā duì bié rén de kùn nan shì ruò wú dǔ, tài lěng mò le.
He turns a blind eye to others' difficulties — too cold-hearted.
视若无睹。
Wǒ men bù néng duì huán jìng wū rǎn shì ruò wú dǔ.
We cannot turn a blind eye to environmental pollution.
视若无睹，。
Lǐng dǎo duì yuán gōng de jiàn yì shì ruò wú dǔ, dà jiā dōu hěn shī wàng.
The boss ignored the employees' suggestions, and everyone was disappointed.

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.

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 →

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

若 began as a picture of a person combing their hair, associated with obedience.

Open 若 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

目者睹

Meaning part形符xíngfú

目目mù

Sound part声符shēngfú

者

者zhě睹dǔ

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

睹 pairs 目 (eye), related to seeing, with 者 as a part hinting at the sound.

Open 睹 →

Appears in