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心思 (xīn si) — thoughts, mind (what one is thinking about); inclination, mood (desire to do something); thought, effort (mental energy put into something)

Definition

心思 covers the personal, often hidden side of thinking — what someone is mulling over or in the mood for. Compare 思想/思维 (abstract systems of thought) and 心声 (the feelings one voices).

noun
thoughtsmind (what one is thinking about)inclinationmood (desire to do something)thoughteffort (mental energy put into something)

Examples

  • 心思。
    Wǒ cāi bù xīn si tā de xīn si.
    I can't figure out his thoughts.
  • 心思。
    Tā jīn tiān méi xīn si gōng zuò.
    He's not in the mood to work today.
  • 心思。
    Tā huā le hěn duō xīn si bù zhì fáng jiān.
    She put a lot of thought into decorating the room.

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.

心xīnheart
思sīthought

The “心” “思” together suggest the thoughts and inclination of the mind.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
囟
囟xìn思sī
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 思, 心 (heart) points to thinking, while the top part is a changed form of 囟, which supplied the sound.

Open 思 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Thinking & Cognition

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