渺 (miǎo) · (of water) vast and boundless, distant and indistinct

Meanings

1 (of water) vast and boundless
2 distant and indistinct
3 tiny, insignificant

Characters

渺

miǎo

vast (of water); indistinct; tiny

Examples

HSK 7-9

湖面浩渺无边。

Húmiàn hàomiǎo wúbiān.

The lake stretches on, vast and boundless.

HSK 7-9

希望渺茫，但他没有放弃。

Xīwàng miǎománg, dàn tā méiyǒu fàngqì.

Hope was faint, but he didn't give up.

HSK 7-9

在宇宙中，人类显得很渺小。

Zài yǔzhòu zhōng, rénlèi xiǎnde hěn miǎoxiǎo.

In the universe, humanity seems very small.

Tips

usage

渺 rarely stands alone, it almost always appears in literary compounds. Top three: 渺小 'tiny, insignificant' (often metaphorical: 'one feels small'), 渺茫 'distant and indistinct, faint' (used of hopes, news, prospects), 浩渺 'vast and boundless' (used of water). Note the 氵 'water' radical, the original meaning is 'an expanse of water so wide it blurs into the horizon.'

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water (radical form of 水)

Three-drops water radical on the left, the side-form of 水, the indexing radical. The original sense is 'vast expanse of water', a lake so wide the far shore vanishes. From that came the broader 'distant, indistinct, tiny.' Same family of water-state chars: 浩 (vast), 漫 (overflow), 涯 (shore), 浮 (float).

phonetic

眇 miǎo

one eye; tiny (here phonetic)

Right side 眇 supplies the sound miǎo directly and a strong semantic bonus. 眇 means 'one-eyed, half-shut,' picturing 目 (eye) plus 少 (few), barely seen. Combined with water it gives 'water seen with a narrowed eye,' which is exactly the look of mist on a distant horizon: vague, immense, hardly there.