TongTong
Sign in

耳目一新 (ěr mù-yì xīn) — refreshingly new; a welcome change; a breath of fresh air

Definition

Idiom: literally 'ears and eyes are refreshed' — used when something feels strikingly new and impressive. Pairs with 焕然一新 for things transformed; 爽 is just a casual 'refreshing' feeling, not an idiom.

phrase
refreshingly newa welcome changea breath of fresh air

Examples

  • 耳目一新。
    Zhè jiā cān tīng de zhuāng xiū fēng gé ràng rén ěr mù-yì xīn.
    The decoration style of this restaurant feels refreshingly new.
  • ，耳目一新。
    Huàn le xīn lǐng dǎo zhī hòu, gōng sī shàng xià ěr mù-yì xīn.
    After the new boss came, everyone in the company felt a refreshing change.
  • 耳目一新，。
    Tā de yǎn jiǎng nèi róng ěr mù-yì xīn, tīng zhòng dōu hěn gǎn xìng qù.
    The content of his speech was refreshingly new and refreshing, and the audience was very interested.

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.

耳目ears and eyes
耳ěrear目mùeye
联合Coordinate
一新all new
一yīall新xīnnew
偏正Modifier + head

耳目 (ears and eyes) and 一新 (all new) say that what one sees and hears feels refreshed.

Characters in this word

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

耳 is drawn as a picture of an ear.

Open 耳 →

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 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
斤斤jīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
辛
辛xīn新xīn
Same sound today

The shape originally paired 斤, for chopping wood, with 辛 for sound. It was borrowed for its sound to write 新, so the chopping-wood parts are unrelated to 'new'.

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

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