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浑浑噩噩 (hún hún è è) — muddleheaded, simple-minded, lacking clear purpose or direction

Definition

A vivid reduplicated chengyu meaning mentally hazy and drifting through life without clear goals or purpose — like being 'asleep' in daily life.

bound form
muddleheaded, simple-minded, lacking clear purpose or direction

Examples

  • 浑浑噩噩，。
    Tā zhěng tiān hún hún è è dì guò rì zi, yì diǎn mù biāo yě méi yǒu.
    He lives muddleheadedly all day, without any goals at all.
  • 浑浑噩噩，。
    Nián qīng shí bù néng hún hún è è, yào wèi zì jǐ de wèi lái nǔ lì.
    When you're young, you can't be aimless — you have to work for your own future.
  • ，浑浑噩噩，。
    Zì cóng cí zhí yǐ hòu, tā biàn de hún hún è è, shén me dōu bù xiǎng zuò.
    Since quitting his job, he's become muddleheaded and doesn't feel like doing anything.

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.

浑浑muddled
浑húnmuddled浑húnmuddled
噩噩dull
噩èdull噩èdull

“浑浑” and “噩噩” repeat confused dullness, intensifying a muddleheaded state.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 渾; 浑 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐriver
Sound part声符shēngfú
軍
軍jūn渾hún
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 渾 pairs 氵 (river) with 軍 to give the sound; the simplified 浑 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the historical component.

Open 浑 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 渾; 浑 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐriver
Sound part声符shēngfú
軍
軍jūn渾hún
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 渾 pairs 氵 (river) with 軍 to give the sound; the simplified 浑 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the historical component.

Open 浑 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 噩 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 噩 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set PhrasesPersonality & Traits

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