炯 (jiǒng): bright

Meanings

老人的双眼依然炯炯有神。

Lǎorén de shuāngyǎn yīrán jiǒngjiǒngyǒushén.

The old man's eyes were still bright and piercing.

他目光炯炯地盯着我。

Tā mùguāng jiǒngjiǒng de dīng zhe wǒ.

He stared at me with bright, focused eyes.

usage

炯 almost always appears reduplicated as 炯炯, especially in 炯炯有神 (bright and full of spirit), describing alert, shining eyes.

radical

火 huǒ

fire

The fire radical 火 on the left gives the sense of light and brightness, like the glow of a flame.

phonetic

冋 jiōng

distant borderland (archaic)

On the right this element supplies the sound, close to jiǒng with only a tone shift. It carries no meaning in this character.

炯 jiǒng