TongTong
Sign in

发愣 (fā lèng) — to stare blankly, to be in a daze

Definition

发愣 means staring blankly or zoning out, often because you're lost in thought or surprised. Overlaps with 发呆; 发愣 often implies being stunned or momentarily frozen, while 发呆 is more a general absent-minded daze.

verb
to stare blanklyto be in a daze

Examples

  • 发愣，！
    Bié fā lèng le, kuài shuō jù huà ya!
    Stop staring blankly, say something!
  • 发愣，。
    Tā zhàn zài mén kǒu fā lèng, bù zhī dào zài xiǎng shén me.
    He stood at the door in a daze, not knowing what he was thinking.
  • 发愣，？
    Nǐ fā lèng dì kàn zhe chuāng wài, shì bu shì yǒu xīn shì?
    You're staring blankly out the window — do you have something on your mind?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

发fāproduce
愣lèngdaze

"发" contributes "produce" and "愣" contributes "daze", so 发愣 means to produce a daze.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

Open 发 →

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
楞
楞léng愣
Same sound today

愣 is built from 忄, a heart radical, plus 楞, which supplies its sound.

Open 愣 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.