盯

• Pinyin: dīng
• Hanzi breakdown: 盯 = 目 (eye) + 丁 (nail — implies nailing one's gaze onto something; fixed, unwavering attention)

Meaning

To stare fixedly at; to watch intently; to keep a close eye on someone or something without looking away.

盯 implies sustained, focused visual attention — sometimes out of suspicion, concentration, or intensity. 盯紧 (keep a close eye on) is common in surveillance and supervisory contexts. 盯着 (staring at) can convey fascination, wariness, or deep concentration depending on context.

Examples

1. 他把全部精力集中在棋盘上，双眼紧紧盯着对手的每一步棋，思索着最佳的应对策略。 He focused all his attention on the chessboard, eyes fixed on every move his opponent made as he considered the best response.
2. 保安在监控室里盯着多个屏幕，对商场各角落的情况保持高度警觉，随时准备应对突发状况。 In the monitoring room, the security guard watched multiple screens, staying highly alert to what was happening in every corner of the mall and ready to respond to emergencies at any moment.
3. 孩子把脸紧贴在玻璃橱窗上，眼睛一动不动地盯着里面五颜六色的糖果，完全挪不开步。 The child pressed his face against the display window, staring without blinking at the colorful candies inside, unable to pull himself away.

Usage Guide

Context: surveillance, concentration, sports, everyday life

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 她盯着电脑屏幕连续工作了六个小时，眼睛已经又干又酸，但手头的报告仍未完成。(She stared at the computer screen for six consecutive hours — her eyes were dry and aching — but the report in front of her was still unfinished.)
• 教练一直盯着运动员的每个动作细节，随时准备指出技术上出现的偏差并加以纠正。(The coach kept his eyes fixed on every detail of the athlete's movements, ready at any moment to identify and correct any technical deviations.)

Don't Say

• 我盯了他的电话 — use 监听 or 偷听 for intercepting phone calls; 盯 is visual fixation, not auditory surveillance

Origin & History

盯 = 目 (eye) + 丁 (nail — implies fixing the gaze like driving a nail; unwavering focus)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal