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解闷 (jiě mèn) — to relieve boredom, to kill time

Definition

A separable verb meaning 'to relieve boredom / kill time' — something you do to cheer yourself up when there's nothing better going on. Often used with reduplication (解解闷) for a brief, casual activity.

verb
to relieve boredomto kill time

Examples

  • ，解闷。
    Zhōu mò méi shì gàn, kàn le yí bù diàn yǐng jiě jiě jiě mèn.
    I had nothing to do on the weekend, so I watched a movie to kill some time.
  • ，。
    Tā wán le jǐ bǎ yóu xì, zǒng suàn jiě le gè mēn.
    He played a few rounds of games and finally relieved his boredom a bit.
  • 解闷，。
    Chū qù sàn bù yě néng jiě mèn, bǐ yì zhí dāi zài jiā lǐ hǎo.
    Going out for a walk can also relieve boredom — it's better than staying at home all the time.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

解jiěrelieve
闷mēnboredom

解 means to relieve, and 闷 refers to boredom, so the word describes relieving boredom.

Characters in this word

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

解 shows 刀 (knife) separating 角 (horn) from 牛 (cow), giving the picture of cutting up an ox.

Open 解 →

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 悶; 闷 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
門
門mén悶mēn
Same sound today

The traditional form 悶 has 門 as a sound part and 心 as a meaning part; the simplified 闷 is a later shorthand.

Open 闷 →
Appears in
Hobbies & Pastimes

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