寞 mò silent
silent; still; lonely
How to remember 寞: 宀 house + 莫 cannot = silent. The empty house feels so lonely that grandpa cannot sleep and lies awake while everything around him is silent.
Component breakdown
寞 = 宀 house + 莫 cannot
- 宀 house
- 莫 cannot
The empty house feels so lonely that grandpa cannot sleep and lies awake while everything around him is silent.
How it is used
- A bound morpheme that appears essentially only in 寂寞 (jìmò) lonely - 感到寂寞 (gǎndào jìmò) feel lonely.
- 寂寞 is the felt loneliness/emptiness of being without company, as opposed to merely being 一个人 (yí ge rén) alone. 寞 never stands on its own.