莫明其妙 (mò míng qí miào) — (chengyu) baffling, inexplicable, beyond comprehension

Definition

Idiom meaning 'inexplicable, baffling' — used when something happens with no clear reason or logic. Often appears before 的 before a noun (e.g. ∼的事 'a baffling thing').

idiom
(chengyu) bafflinginexplicablebeyond comprehension
Easily confused

Examples

  • 莫明其妙，。
    Tā tū rán shuō le zhè me yí jù mò míng qí miào de huà, dà jiā dōu lèng zhù le.
    He suddenly said such a baffling thing that everyone was stunned.
  • 莫明其妙，。
    Zhè ge wèn tí de dá àn mò míng qí miào, shuí yě cāi bù chū lái.
    The answer to this question is inexplicable; no one can guess it.
  • 莫明其妙，。
    Tā duì wǒ fā le yì tōng mò míng qí miào de huǒ, wǒ wán quán bù zhī dào yuán yīn.
    He inexplicably got angry at me, and I have no idea why.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 莫 shows a sun sinking into bushes, meaning dusk.

Open 莫 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →

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

The modern form 其 comes from an early drawing of a basket, with a stand added underneath.

Open 其 →

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
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
少
少shǎo妙miào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

妙 combines 女, a woman, with 少, which gives the sound.

Open 妙 →

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