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明明 (míng míng) — obviously, plainly (emphasizing a contradiction between obvious facts and actual behavior or beliefs)

Definition

明明 highlights a contradiction: it stresses that a fact is obvious yet the expected result didn't happen (always followed by 却 'yet'). Unlike 显然 or 显而易见, it focuses on the gap between what is clear and what actually occurs.

adverb
obviouslyplainly (emphasizing a contradiction between obvious facts and actual behavior or beliefs)

Examples

  • 明明，？
    Nǐ míng míng zhī dào dá àn, wèi shén me bù shuō?
    You obviously know the answer, why don't you say it?
  • 明明，。
    Tā míng míng yǒu zú gòu de shí jiān, què yì zhí tuō dào zuì hòu.
    He clearly had enough time, had enough time, yet he kept putting it off until the end.
  • 明明，？
    Wǒ men míng míng shuō hǎo le sān diǎn jiàn miàn, tā zěn me hái méi dào?
    We clearly agreed to meet at three, how come he still hasn't arrived?

Origin

Reduplicated word
构词法gòucífǎ
重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

明míngclear
明míngclear

The doubled 明 emphasizes that something is plainly true.

Characters in this word

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

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →

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

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 65000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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