漠然 (mò rán) — indifferent, apathetic | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A literary, written-style adjective for emotional indifference — colder and more detached than 冷漠, which describes a person's cold manner. Often used in fixed phrases like 漠然置之 ('to turn a blind eye').

adjective

indifferentapathetic

Examples

漠然。
Tā duì zhè ge jì huà de tài dù shí fēn mò rán.
He is very indifferent to this plan.
，漠然。
Miàn duì dà jiā de tí wèn, tā zhǐ shì mò rán dì xiào le xiào.
Facing everyone's questions, he just gave an indifferent smile.
漠然。
Tā de mò rán tài dù péng you men dōu kàn chū lái le.
Her indifferent attitude was noticed by all her friends.

Origin

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

漠mòindifferent

漠 conveys indifference, and 然 gives a state-like sense, so 漠然 means cold or apathetic.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

莫

莫mò漠mò

Same sound today

漠 pairs 水 (water) with 莫 as the sound part. The water part shows the meaning is connected to water.

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

火火huǒfire

Sound part声符shēngfú

肰

肰rán然rán

Same sound today

然 is made from 肰, which gives the sound, and 火, which shows fire, matching the old sense 'to burn'.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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