瞪 (dèng): to stare
瞪 (dèng) is a Chinese character meaning “to stare.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 目 (semantic) and 登 (phonetic). It ranks #2017 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 瞪 eye. Its radical form 目 (eye) appears in many related characters such as 看 (kàn, to look, to see), 真 (zhēn, really), 着 (zhe, -ing, to wear).
Definitions
- to stare
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 瞪 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 目瞪口呆phrase | mù dèng kǒu dāi | (idiom) dumbstruck |
| 瞪眼verb | dèng yǎn | to open one's eyes wide |
| 干瞪眼verb | gān dèng yǎn | to watch helplessly |
| 吹胡子瞪眼phrase | chuī hú zi dèng yǎn | to get angry |
| 大眼瞪小眼phrase | dà yǎn dèng xiǎo yǎn | (idiom) to look at each other, not knowing what to do |
| 直眉瞪眼 | zhí méi dèng yǎn | to stare angrily or vacantly |
| 瞪鞋摇滚 | dèng xié yáo gǔn | shoegaze (music genre) |
| 直瞪瞪 | zhí dèng dèng | to stare blankly |
| 迷瞪 | mí dèng | puzzled |
| 瞪羚noun | dèng líng | gazelle |
瞪 appears in 10 compound words: 30 as the first character, 10 as the last, and 60 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 瞪 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
他瞪大了眼睛，不敢相信眼前发生的一切。
Tā dèng dà le yǎnjing, bù gǎn xiāngxìn yǎnqián fāshēng de yíqiè.
He stared with wide eyes, unable to believe what was happening before him.
我们最终拿到的是跑完的结果，而不是一段只能干瞪眼的代码。
wǒ men zuì zhōng ná dào de shì pǎo wán de jié guǒ , ér bù shì yī duàn zhī néng gān dèng yǎn de dài mǎ .
What we end up with is the result of the run, not a piece of code we can only stare at helplessly.
凯旋门前还有一个喷泉，站在喷泉池边上，抬头望向凯旋门高处，有种迷迷瞪瞪的梦幻感。
kǎi xuán mén qián hái yǒu yī gè pēn quán , zhàn zài pēn quán chí biān shàng , tái tóu wàng xiàng kǎi xuán mén gāo chǔ , yǒu zhǒng mí mí dèng dèng de mèng huàn gǎn .
There is also a fountain in front of the Arc de Triomphe. Standing at the edge of the fountain basin and looking up at the towering Arc de Triomphe creates a hazy, dreamlike feeling.
面对那一堆的代码，不懂技术的普通人通常只能大眼瞪小眼。
miàn duì nà yī duī de dài mǎ , bù dǒng jì shù de pǔ tōng rén tōng cháng zhī néng dà yǎn dèng xiǎo yǎn .
Faced with that pile of code, ordinary people with no technical background usually just stare at it in bewilderment.
孩子们瞪圆眼睛追问“然后呢”，家长们也听得入了神。
hái zǐ men dèng yuán yǎn jīng zhuī wèn rán hòu ne , jiā cháng men yě tīng dé rù le shén .
The children listened with wide eyes, asking, “What happened next?” while the parents were also completely engrossed in the story.
汤姆没有瞪着玛丽。
Tāngmǔ méiyǒu dèng zhe Mǎlì.
Tom wasn't staring at Mary.
说好要瞪眼比赛的呀！
Shuōhǎo yào dèngyǎn bǐsài de ya!
I said we're doing a staring contest!
他们惊得目瞪口呆。
Tāmen jīng de mùdèng-kǒudāi.
They were left speechless.
问她问题的时候她冷冷地瞪了我一眼。
Wèn tā wèntí de shíhou tā lěnglěng de dèng le wǒ yīyǎn.
When I asked her a question, she gave me a cold look.
她48岁怀上了孩子，所有人都目瞪口呆。
Tā 48 suì huái shàng le háizi, suǒyǒu rén dōu mùdèngkǒudāi.
Everyone was just flabbergasted that she was able to get pregnant at 48.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 目 (eye) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 瞪 (dèng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 瞪 and 澄?
How many strokes does 瞪 have?
What is the radical of 瞪?
What are the components of 瞪?
What are common words containing 瞪?
What characters sound the same as 瞪 (dèng)?
Is 瞪 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 瞪 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.