茫 (máng): vast, with no clear boundary, fig. hazy, indistinct
茫 (máng) is a Chinese character meaning “vast, with no clear boundary.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 艹 (semantic) and 汒 (phonetic). It ranks #1925 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 茫 grass. Its radical form 艹 (grass) appears in many related characters such as 花 (huā, flower), 茶 (chá, tea), 菜 (cài, vegetable, dish).
Definitions
- vast, with no clear boundary
- fig. hazy
- indistinct
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 茫 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 迷茫 | mí máng | vast and indistinct |
| 渺茫 | miǎo máng | uncertain |
| 茫茫 | máng máng | boundless |
| 茫然 | máng rán | blankly |
| 白茫茫 | bái máng máng | (of mist, snow, floodwater etc) a vast expanse of whiteness |
| 苍茫 | cāng máng | boundless |
| 一脸茫然 | yī liǎn máng rán | puzzled |
| 茫然失措 | máng rán shī cuò | at a loss (idiom) |
| 夜色苍茫 | yè sè cāng máng | gathering dusk |
| 苦海茫茫 | kǔ hǎi máng máng | sea of bitterness is vast (idiom) |
| 微茫 | wēi máng | hazy |
| 喝茫 | hē máng | (slang) to get drunk (Tw) |
| 前途渺茫 | qián tú miǎo máng | not knowing what to do next |
| 混茫 | hùn máng | dim |
| 暮色苍茫 | mù sè cāng máng | the hazy dusk of twilight (idiom) |
茫 appears in 20 compound words: 15 as the first character, 60 as the last, and 25 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 茫 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
茫字虽然难写，但意思很有趣。
máng zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .
The character "茫" may be difficult to write, but its meaning is quite interesting.
...抗皱选购指南,盘点有哪些效果好?抗老不迷茫!
. . . kàng zhòu xuǎn gòu zhǐ nán , pán diǎn yǒu nǎ xiē xiào guǒ hǎo ? kàng lǎo bù mí máng !
我对以后做什么很迷茫。
Wǒ duì yǐhòu zuò shénme hěn mímáng.
I was puzzled about what to do next.
他站在那里,一脸茫然。
Tā zhàn zài nàli, yīliǎnmángrán.
He was standing there with a vacant look.
突然，从茫茫大雾中出现了一艘船。
Tūrán, cóng mángmáng dàwù zhōng chūxiàn le yī sōu chuán.
Suddenly, a ship appeared through the fog.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 茫 (máng) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 茫 have?
What is the radical of 茫?
What are the components of 茫?
What are common words containing 茫?
What characters sound the same as 茫 (máng)?
Is 茫 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 茫 with real-time feedback
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