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观望 (guān wàng) — to wait and see, to adopt a cautious attitude; to look around, to survey (the surroundings or situation)

Definition

观望 means 'to wait and see' — adopting a cautious, hands-off stance toward a developing situation, often before committing. Unlike 观察 or 观看, the focus is on the deliberate non-action, not the act of watching itself.

verb
to wait and seeto adopt a cautious attitudeto look aroundto survey (the surroundings or situation)

Examples

  • 观望，。
    Lǎo bǎn jué dìng zàn shí guān wàng, bù jí zhe tóu zī.
    The boss decided to wait and see for now, not rushing to invest.
  • 观望。
    Tā zhàn zài mén kǒu guān wàng le yí huì r cái jìn qù.
    He stood at the door and looked around for a while before entering.
  • 观望。
    Xǔ duō mǎi jiā réng rán guān wàng shì chǎng zǒu shì.
    Many buyers are still watching the market trend.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

观guānwatch
望wànglook

观 (watch) and 望 (look) together give the sense of watching or surveying a situation.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 觀; 观 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
見見jiànsee
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn觀guān
Same sound today

The traditional form 觀 uses 見 (see) for meaning and 雚 for sound.

Open 观 →

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

  • 臣臣chéneye
  • 𡈼𡈼𡈼person standing on the ground

望 originally showed 臣 (eye) beside 𡈼 (person standing on the ground): a person standing up and looking off into the distance. Later 月 was added, and the 臣 part became 亡.

Open 望 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Attitudes & Opinions

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