迷信 (mí xìn) — to be superstitious about; to have blind faith… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

迷信 can be both a verb ('to have blind faith in, to be superstitious about') and a noun ('superstition'). It implies an uncritical belief in something without evidence, unlike 信仰 which denotes a genuine, considered faith.

verb

to be superstitious aboutto have blind faith in (something)

Examples

迷信，。
Hěn duō rén mí xìn xīng zuò, jué de tā néng jué dìng xìng gé.
Many people are superstitious about horoscopes, thinking they can determine personality.
迷信，。
Bú yào mí xìn quán wēi, yào xiāng xìn shì shí.
Don't blindly trust authority; believe in facts.
迷信，。
Tā mí xìn suàn mìng, měi cì kǎo shì qián dōu yào suàn yí guà.
He is superstitious about fortune-telling and always consults a divination before exams.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

迷míblindly, excessively

信xìnbelieve

“迷” (blindly, excessively) and “信” (believe) combine into blind faith or superstitious belief.

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

辵辵chuòwalk

Sound part声符shēngfú

米

米mǐ迷mí

Same sound today

迷 uses 辵, the walking part, and 米, which gives the sound.

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

言言yánwords

Sound part声符shēngfú

人

人rén信xìn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

信 pairs 人 as the sound part with 言 (words) as the meaning part.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Religion & Belief

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