猜谜 (cāi mèi) — to guess a riddle; to figure out the hidden mea… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A verb-object compound: 猜 'guess' + 谜 'riddle'. Beyond literal riddles (灯会、元宵节), it extends to puzzling out hidden meanings behind indirect or evasive speech.

verb

to guess a riddleto figure out the hidden meaning (of a situation, remark, etc.)

Examples

，。
Dà jiā cāi le yí gè mí, dōu cāi bù chū lái.
Everyone guessed a riddle, but no one could solve it.
猜谜。
Wǒ xǐ huan hé péng you yì qǐ cāi mèi.
I like to guess riddles with friends.
，猜谜。
Tā shuō huà zǒng shì guǎi wān mò jiǎo, ràng rén yì zhí zài cāi mèi.
He always speaks in a roundabout way, making people keep guessing the meaning.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

谜míriddle

猜 means guess and 谜 means riddle, so 猜谜 means guessing a riddle.

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.

犭青猜

Meaning part形符xíngfú

犭Written in full as犬quǎn

Sound part声符shēngfú

青

青qīng猜cāi

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

猜 pairs 犭, the dog radical (full form 犬), with 青 as the sound part.

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 謎; 谜 is its simplified writing.

言迷謎

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánspeech

Sound part声符shēngfú

迷

迷mí謎mí

Same sound today

The traditional form 謎 is made from 言 (speech) and 迷, which gives the sound and means 'to be lost'; the simplified 谜 is a later abbreviation.

Appears in

Games & Puzzles

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