怔怔 (zhèngzhèng): in a daze

Meanings

1 in a daze
2 staring blankly
3 stunned and motionless

Characters

怔

Examples

听到这个消息，她怔怔地站在那里，一动不动。

Tīngdào zhège xiāoxi, tā zhèngzhèng de zhàn zài nàlǐ, yī dòng bù dòng.

Hearing the news, she stood there in a daze, motionless.

他怔怔地望着远方。

Tā zhèngzhèng de wàngzhe yuǎnfāng.

He stared blankly into the distance.

Tips

register

Literary, common in narrative fiction. Often follows the verbs 望 (gaze), 看 (look), 站 (stand), 坐 (sit) plus 地, capturing a frozen moment of shock or absorption. Compare 呆呆 (dāidāi, dazed/dumbstruck) — close in meaning, slightly more common in everyday speech.