失眠 (shī mián) — to suffer from insomnia; to have insomnia

Definition

失眠 (shīmián) is a verb meaning 'to have insomnia' / 'to be unable to sleep' — it describes the ongoing state, not a one-off sleepless night, and pairs with 严重 / 问题.

verb

to suffer from insomniato have insomnia

Examples

失眠，。
Wǒ zuì jìn zǒng shì shī mián, wǎn shàng hěn zǎo jiù xǐng le.
Lately I always have insomnia, waking up very early in the morning.
失眠，。
Rú guǒ shī mián yán zhòng, kě yǐ shì shì fàng sōng de fāng fǎ.
If the insomnia is severe, you can try relaxation methods.
失眠。
Yī shēng jiàn yì wǒ zǎo diǎn shuì jiào lái gǎi shàn shī mián wèn tí.
The doctor advised me to go to bed earlier to improve the insomnia problem.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

失shīlose

眠miánsleep

失 means lose and 眠 means sleep, so 失眠 is losing sleep, that is insomnia.

Characters in this word

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

手手shǒu
乙乙yǐ

The shape is explained as a fallen person's footprint surrounded by drops of blood; another reading pairs 手 (hand) and 乙 to show something falling from a hand.

Open 失 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

目民眠

Meaning part形符xíngfú

目目mùeye

Sound part声符shēngfú

民

民mín眠mián

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

眠 uses 目 (eye) to show the idea of closing the eyes, with 民 giving the sound.

Open 眠 →

Appears in