出神 (chū shén) — lost in thought; spellbound; daydreaming | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

出神 means being mentally absent — lost in thought or so absorbed you don't notice your surroundings. Closer to 发呆 (blankly zoned out) than to 着迷 (actively fascinated by something exciting).

verb

lost in thoughtspellbounddaydreaming

Examples

出神。
Tā shàng kè de shí hou yòu chū shén le.
He spaced out in class again.
出神，。
Tā kàn zhe chuāng wài chū shén, lián wǒ jiào tā dōu méi tīng jiàn.
She stared out the window lost in thought, and didn't even hear me call her.
，。
Tā kàn shū kàn de chū shén le, wán quán wàng jì shí jiān.
He was so absorbed in reading that he lost track of time.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

“出” suggests going out, “神” refers to the spirit, together they picture the spirit leaving and the person becoming spellbound.

Characters in this word

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

止止zhǐfoot
凵凵kǎncave

出 combines 止 (foot) and 凵 (cave) to show a foot stepping out of a cave.

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

示示shìgod; deity

Sound part声符shēngfú

申

申shēn神shén

Same sound today

The older form 申 drew lightning, which the ancients regarded as divine; 神 adds 示 (god/deity) to mark that meaning.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6

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