HSK · Level 37
120 words
Chinese word
失明
Pronunciation
Pinyinshī míng
Meaning
- verbgo blind
Example
他年纪大了，眼睛渐渐失明。tā nián jì dà le yǎn jīng jiàn jiàn shī míng
As he got older, he gradually went blind.
More examples
那场疾病使他一只眼睛失明，另一只眼睛的视力也越来越差。nà chǎng jí bìng shǐ tā yì zhī yǎn jīng shī míng lìng yì zhī yǎn jīng de shì lì yě yuè lái yuè chà
That illness made him blind in one eye, and the vision in the other eye was getting worse and worse.
Core concept
A person's ability to see fades or disappears, leaving the world partly or wholly without usable visual detail.
Common phrases
因病失明yīn bìng shī míng
go blind from illness
完全失明wán quán shī míng
go completely blind
双目失明shuāng mù shī míng
go blind in both eyes
Similar words
看不见kàn bú jiàn: Unable to see something at all.
看不清楚kàn bù qīng chǔ: Unable to see things clearly because details or distant objects look blurred.
视力下降shì lì xià jiàng: To suffer a decline in eyesight that makes the visible world less clear.
失去视力shī qù shì lì: To lose one's sight and become unable to see.
Definition in Chinese
眼睛失去看见的能力，可能部分或完全丧失视力，过程可以突然或逐渐发生。yǎn jīng shī qù kàn jiàn de néng lì kě néng bù fèn huò wán quán sàng shī shì lì guò chéng ké yǐ tū rán huò zhú jiàn fā shēng
Word origin
失 (shī, "lose") + 明 (míng, "brightness or clarity") presents blindness as the loss of clear light and sight.
Usage tips
- In everyday Chinese, this word describes a serious visual condition rather than ordinary difficulty seeing, so it is not the usual choice for a temporary blurry view.
Other meanings
- blindadjective
- blindnessnoun
Opposites
- 复明fù míngrestore sightverb
- 看见kàn jiànseeverb
Related words
- 失明者shī míng zhěblind personnoun
- 失明率shī míng lǜblindness ratenoun