邈

miǎo
adjective

Meanings

  1. 1 far away; remote
  2. 2 distant in time; long ago; profound

Examples

HSK 7-9
Liǎng rén rújīn miǎo ruò shānhé.
The two of them are now as far apart as mountains and rivers.

Tips

register
邈 is purely literary, kept alive in set expressions like 邈若山河 (as far apart as mountains and rivers). In modern prose use 遥远 instead.

Components

radical
辶 chuò
walking; movement (motion radical)
The motion radical 辶 is written last in stroke order, sweeping under the left and bottom. It supplies the idea of distance covered on foot, giving 邈 its 'far away' sense, like 远 and 途.
phonetic
貌 mào
appearance; looks
貌 (appearance) sits inside the walk-radical as the sound element; the reading shifted from mào to miǎo. It contributes no 'appearance' meaning - the distance idea comes entirely from the 辶 radical.

Stroke Order

邈 miǎo