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目不转睛 (mù bù zhuǎn jīng) — to gaze fixedly; to stare without blinking

Definition

An idiom meaning 'to stare without blinking' — focused attention on something captivating. Unlike 目瞪口呆 (shock/surprise), here the gaze is absorbed, not stunned.

phrase
to gaze fixedlyto stare without blinking

Examples

  • 目不转睛，。
    Tā mù bù zhuǎn jīng dì kàn zhe nà fú huà, wán quán bèi xī yǐn zhù le.
    She stared at the painting without blinking, completely captivated.
  • 目不转睛，。
    Guān zhòng men mù bù zhuǎn jīng dì dīng zhe wǔ tái, shēng pà cuò guò rèn hé yí gè dòng zuò.
    The audience stared at the stage without blinking, afraid of missing any movement.
  • 目不转睛，。
    Tā mù bù zhuǎn jīng dì zhù shì zhe yuǎn fāng, sì hū zài sī kǎo shén me.
    He gazed into the distance without blinking, as if thinking about something.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

目 began as a drawing of a human eye, turned sideways.

Open 目 →

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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 轉; 转 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
車車jūcarriage
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān轉zhuǎn
Same sound today

The traditional form 轉 combines 車, a carriage, with 專 as a sound part; the simplified 转 is a later shorthand.

Open 转 →

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mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng睛⁰jīng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 目 is an eye, matching the meaning eyeball; the right part 青 gives the sound.

Open 睛 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Idioms & Set Phrases

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