留恋

• Pinyin: liú liàn
• Hanzi breakdown: 留 = 田 + 刀 + 口 (to stay, remain); 恋 = 亦 + 心 (to feel deep attachment)

Meaning

To be reluctant to leave; to feel nostalgic attachment to a place, person, or time.

Carries an emotional weight of nostalgia and fond attachment. Often used when departing from a beloved place or era, or when reminiscing about a past relationship or period of life. Common in literary and reflective writing.

Examples

1. 毕业典礼结束后，许多同学留恋地在校园里拍照留念，不愿离去。 After the graduation ceremony, many students lingered on campus taking photos as keepsakes, unwilling to leave.
2. 她对童年时期在外祖母家度过的岁月始终满怀留恋，那段时光在她心中弥足珍贵。 She has always felt deep nostalgia for the years she spent at her maternal grandmother’s home as a child; that time has remained especially precious to her.
3. 旅行即将结束，他站在湖边久久凝视，对这片美丽的土地充满了留恋。 As the trip was about to end, he stood by the lake gazing for a long time, filled with reluctance to leave this beautiful land.

Usage Guide

Context: emotional, literary, travel

Tone: nostalgic

Do Say

• 离开这座城市时，她对在这里生活的十年充满了留恋。(Leaving the city, she felt deeply nostalgic about the ten years she had lived there.)
• 孩子们留恋地望着游乐场，直到父母催促才依依不舍地离开。(The children gazed longingly at the playground and only left reluctantly when their parents urged them.)

Don't Say

• 把留恋和留念混用 — 留恋 emphasises emotional reluctance to leave or nostalgic attachment, while 留念 means to keep as a memento or souvenir (Don't confuse 留恋 with 留念 — the former is an emotional state, the latter an action of keeping something as a memory)

Origin & History

留 (to stay, linger) + 恋 (to feel attached to, to long for) — to linger with emotional attachment.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal