杳 (yǎo): distant and out of sight

Meanings

1 distant and out of sight
2 with no trace; vanished

Characters

杳

yǎo

distant; with no trace

Examples

他走后，一直杳无音信。

Tā zǒuhòu, yìzhí yǎowúyīnxìn.

After he left, there was no news of him at all.

船驶向远方，渐渐杳无踪迹。

Chuán shǐ xiàng yuǎnfāng, jiànjiàn yǎo wú zōngjì.

The ship sailed into the distance and gradually vanished from view.

Tips

usage

杳 is literary, almost always in 杳无音信 (no news whatsoever) and 杳无踪迹 (vanished without a trace).

Components

semantic

木 mù

tree; wood

The tree element on top. The character pictures the sun sinking below the trees, so the tree marks the horizon line that the light disappears behind.

semantic

日 rì

sun

The sun below the trees. Sun dropping out of sight behind the woods gives the meaning: dim, far off, gone without trace. Together the two parts form a vivid sunset scene.

Stroke Order

杳 yǎo

Related Words

杳渺 yǎomiǎo

dimly discernible / vast and indistinct / distant and faint

杳无消息 yǎowú-xiāoxī

to vanish without a trace / to hear nothing more from someone / no news whatsoever

杳无音信 yǎowú-yīnxìn #36,479

to have had no news whatever / all word and sign have vanished

杳无音讯 yǎowú-yīnxùn #36,209

to have no news whatever / (variant of 杳无音信) completely out of contact

拔 bá HSK 5 #2,896

to pull up; to pull out; to uproot / to select; to promote; to stand out

出局 chūjú HSK 7-9 #2,394

to be eliminated; to be out / to be knocked out (of a competition)

抽 chōu HSK 4 #1,379

to draw out / to pull out / to smoke (cigarettes) / to extract

出 chū HSK 1 #105

to go out / to come out / to produce / to appear

抽出 chōuchū #8,273

to draw out; to pull out / to find (time); to set aside

出海 chūhǎi #8,973

to go out to sea; to put out to sea / to go overseas (for business expansion)