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白眼 (bái yǎn) — supercilious look, disdain, contempt

Definition

翻白眼 ('to roll one's eyes') is a nonverbal show of contempt or disdain toward someone. 比 看不起 stronger and more openly rude — it's the look itself, not a verbal judgment.

noun
supercilious lookdisdaincontempt

Examples

  • 白眼，。
    Tā zāo dào tóng shì de bái yǎn, xīn lǐ hěn bù shū fu.
    He was treated with contempt by his colleagues and felt very uncomfortable.
  • 白眼，。
    Tā shuō huà shí yì zhí fān bái yǎn, ràng rén jué de hěn méi lǐ mào.
    She kept rolling her eyes while speaking, which made her seem very rude.
  • 白眼，。
    Tā kàn wǒ de yǎn shén chōng mǎn le bái yǎn, ràng wǒ hěn nán shòu.
    The look in his eyes was full of contempt, which made me very uncomfortable.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

白báiwhite
眼yǎneye

White and eye combine to name the look that shows the whites of the eyes.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

Open 白 →

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
目目mùeye
Sound part声符shēngfú
艮
艮gèn眼yǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

眼 combines 目, which is an eye, with 艮, which gives the character's sound.

Open 眼 →
Appears in
Body PartsEmotions & Feelings

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