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迷雾 (mí wù) — dense fog; (figurative) something that obscures or confuses; a mystifying situation

Definition

Literally 'dense fog', but at HSK 7 it mostly means a figurative 'fog' of confusion or uncertainty that hides what's really going on. More literary than everyday words like 雾.

noun
dense fog(figurative) something that obscures or confusesa mystifying situation
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • 迷雾。
    Zǎo chén de mí wù lǒng zhào le zhěng gè chéng shì.
    The dense fog in the morning covered the whole city.
  • 迷雾，。
    Tā de jiě shì xiàng yī céng mí wù, ràng rén gèng kùn huò le.
    His explanation was like a layer of fog, making people even more confused.
  • 迷雾，。
    Zài xìn xī de mí wù zhōng, wǒ men hěn nán zuò chū pàn duàn.
    In the fog of information, we can hardly make judgments.

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míbewildering
雾wùfog

A bewildering (迷) fog (雾) can hide what is ahead.

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.

Open 迷 →

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 霧; 雾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
雨雨yǔrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
務
務wù霧wù
Same sound today

In the traditional form 霧, 雨, rain, is on top and 務 below gives the sound; the simplified 雾 is a shorthand.

Open 雾 →
Appears in
Weather

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