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迷离 (mí lí) — (stative verb, literary) blurred, hazy, indistinct — of sight, scene, or mind

Definition

Literary adjective for a blurred, hazy, or dazed quality — of vision, scenes, or the mind. Much more written/literary than plain 模糊, which covers everyday blur.

adjective
(stative verb, literary) blurredhazyindistinct — of sightsceneor mind

Examples

  • ，迷离。
    Tā hē duō le, yǎn jing yǒu diǎn mí lí.
    He drank too much, and his eyes are a bit hazy.
  • ，迷离。
    Wù qì mí màn, yuǎn chù de shān mí lí bù qīng.
    Fog pervades, and the distant mountains are hazy and unclear.
  • 迷离，。
    Tā mù guāng mí lí, hǎo xiàng zài xiǎng shén me xīn shì.
    Her gaze was dazed, as if she was thinking of something.

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.

迷mí
离lí

The characters 迷 and 离 carry no separate meanings here; together they form a literary word for a blurred, misty impression.

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
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
米
米mǐ迷mí
Same sound today

迷 uses 辵, the walking part, and 米, which gives the sound.

Open 迷 →

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 離; 离 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuībird
Sound part声符shēngfú
离
离lí離lí
Same sound today

The traditional form 離 pairs 隹, a bird, with the sound part 离; the simplified 离 is a shorthand. This form first wrote a black-naped oriole, and the sound was borrowed for 'leave'.

Open 离 →
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