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仰望 (yǎng wàng) — to look up at (something high above); to look up to, to admire (a person or ideal)

Definition

仰 means 'face upward'; 望 means 'gaze into the distance,' so 仰望 literally 'gaze upward.' Use it for looking up at the sky or admiring a revered person — stronger than 钦佩, which is purely emotional esteem without the physical 'looking up.'

verb
to look up at (something high above)to look up toto admire (a person or ideal)

Examples

  • ，仰望。
    Wǒ tǎng zài cǎo dì shàng, yǎng wàng zhe mǎn tiān fán xīng.
    I lie on the grass, looking up at the starry sky.
  • 仰望。
    Tā shì wǒ zuì yǎng wàng de dǎo shī.
    He is the mentor I admire most.
  • 仰望。
    Wǒ men yǎng wàng nà xiē wèi shè huì zuò chū gòng xiàn de rén.
    We look up to those who have contributed to society.

Origin

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.

仰yǎngupward
望wànglook

仰 “upward” and 望 “look” combine to mean looking up at something high.

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
卬
卬áng仰yǎng
Same sound today

In 仰, the left part 亻 represents a person, and the right part 卬 gives the sound.

Open 仰 →

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

  • 臣臣chéneye
  • 𡈼𡈼𡈼person standing on the ground

望 originally showed 臣 (eye) beside 𡈼 (person standing on the ground): a person standing up and looking off into the distance. Later 月 was added, and the 臣 part became 亡.

Open 望 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Senses

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