惺忪 (xīng sōng) — (of eyes) drowsy, blurry from just waking up; (literary) wavering, indecisive

Definition

Literary adjective almost always used of just-woken eyes, meaning drowsy or half-open/blurry. In classical writing it can also mean 'awake/clearheaded', but in modern usage 睡眼惺忪 is the pattern you'll see.

adjective
(of eyes) drowsyblurry from just waking up(literary) waveringindecisive

Examples

  • 惺忪，。
    Tā shuì yǎn xīng sōng dì cóng chuáng shàng pá qǐ lái, hái méi wán quán qīng xǐng.
    He got out of bed with drowsy eyes, not yet fully awake.
  • 惺忪，。
    Qīng chén de yáng guāng zhào zài tā xīng sōng de shuāng móu shàng, xiǎn de gé wài wēn róu.
    The morning sunlight fell on her drowsy eyes, making her look especially gentle.
  • 惺忪。
    Zhè zhǒng xīng sōng bú dìng de tài dù ràng tán pàn xiàn rù jiāng jú.
    This wavering, indecisive attitude brought the negotiations to a stalemate.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

惺xīng
忪sōng

惺忪 is a bound two-syllable form; its characters do not carry separate meanings here.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 惺 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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