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mù 目 dèng 瞪 kǒu 口 dāi 呆

目瞪口呆 mù dèng kǒu dāi

dumbstruck; stunned with wide eyes and open mouth

Literally: eye stare mouth dumb

Intermediate 😊 Feelings & moods
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Origin

Descriptive; no single source story. Common in Yuan drama and Ming fiction to describe astonishment.

How to use it

Predicate or complement; neutral. Often 吓得/看得目瞪口呆.

Example sentences

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  1. 看到魔术师把大象变没了，观众都目瞪口呆。
    Kàndào móshùshī bǎ dàxiàng biàn méi le, guānzhòng dōu mù dèng kǒu dāi.
    When the magician made the elephant vanish, the audience was dumbstruck.
    see magician (object-marker) elephant change gone (particle), audience all eye stare mouth dumb
  2. 听到这个消息，他目瞪口呆地站在那里，一句话也说不出来。
    Tīngdào zhège xiāoxi, tā mù dèng kǒu dāi de zhàn zài nàlǐ, yī jù huà yě shuō bu chūlái.
    Hearing the news he stood there stunned, unable to say a word.
    hear this news, he eye stare mouth dumb (particle) stand at there, one (measure) sentence also say not out

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