傻眼 (shǎ yǎn) — to be stunned, dumbfounded | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

To be stunned or dumbfounded — caught off guard by something unexpected. Often used colloquially for a momentary shock reaction.

verb

to be stunneddumbfounded

Examples

，傻眼。
Tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi, dà jiā dōu shǎ yǎn le.
Everyone was stunned when they heard the news.
，。
Kàn dào kǎo shì jié guǒ, tā wán quán shǎ le.
He was completely dumbfounded when he saw the exam results.
，。
Tā shǎ le yǎn, yí jù huà yě shuō bù chū lái.
He was so stunned that he couldn't say a word.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

傻shǎstunned

The 眼 become 傻, so someone is stunned or dumbfounded.

Characters in this word

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.

目艮眼

Meaning part形符xíngfú

目目mùeye

Sound part声符shēngfú

艮

艮gèn眼yǎn

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

眼 combines 目, which is an eye, with 艮, which gives the character's sound.

Appears in

Emotions & Feelings

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