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眼睁睁 (yǎn zhēng zhēng) — (verb phrase) to watch helplessly, to look on without being able to intervene; to stare wide-eyed (at something distressing)

Definition

An adverbial phrase (often paired with 地) meaning 'watch helplessly' as something bad happens — emphasizes the inability to act, not the staring. Used only in distressing contexts.

verb
(verb phrase) to watch helplessly, to look on without being able to interveneto stare wide-eyed (at something distressing)

Examples

  • 眼睁睁。
    Tā zhǐ néng yǎn zhēng zhēng dì kàn zhe xiǎo tōu pǎo diào le.
    He could only watch helplessly as the thief ran away.
  • 眼睁睁。
    Wǒ men yǎn zhēng zhēng dì kàn zhe hé shuǐ bǎ fáng zi chōng zǒu le.
    We watched helplessly as the river washed the house away.
  • 眼睁睁。
    Yī shēng yǎn zhēng zhēng dì kàn zhe bìng rén de shēng mìng yì diǎn diǎn xiāo shī.
    The doctor watched helplessly as the patient's life slipped away little by little.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

眼yǎneye
睁睁wide open
睁zhēngopen睁zhēngopen
重叠Reduplication

眼 refers to the eye, and 睁睁 describes it as wide open, giving the sense of watching helplessly.

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
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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 睁 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 睁 →
Appears in
Senses

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