迷路

• Pinyin: mí lù
• Hanzi breakdown: 迷 = 辶 (movement radical) + 米 (rice, phonetic) — to lose one's way; 路 = 足 (foot radical) + 各 (each/separate, phonetic) — road, path

Meaning

To get lost; to lose one's way. Describes physically losing one's bearings in an unfamiliar place, or figuratively losing direction in life or a process.

Used literally for getting lost while travelling or navigating, and figuratively for losing one's way in life, career, or goals. The figurative use is common in literary and motivational contexts. Simple and widely used across all registers.

Examples

1. 他第一次独自前往那座陌生的山区小镇，因为没有信号导航，在山路上迷路了将近两个小时。 On his first solo trip to that unfamiliar mountain town, he had no navigation signal and got lost on the winding roads for nearly two hours.
2. 在人生的某个阶段，几乎每个人都会感到迷路，不知道自己究竟想要什么、该往哪里走。 At some point in life, almost everyone feels lost—unsure what they truly want or where they should go next.
3. 那个孩子在商场迷路后独自哭泣，幸好被一位热心的工作人员发现，及时广播找到了他的家人。 After getting separated in the mall, the child cried alone, but thankfully a helpful staff member found him and quickly made an announcement to locate his family.

Usage Guide

Context: travel, life, navigation, children

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 在密林深处迷路是一件非常危险的事，经验丰富的户外运动者都会携带备用地图和指南针以防万一。(Getting lost deep in a dense forest is extremely dangerous; experienced outdoor adventurers always carry backup maps and a compass as a precaution.)
• 年轻人有时会在事业选择上迷路，但这种困惑本身往往也是促使他们认真审视自身价值观的契机。(Young people sometimes lose their way in career choices, but this confusion itself is often also an opportunity that prompts them to seriously examine their own values.)

Don't Say

• 把'迷路'与'走错路'混用 — 迷路指完全不知道自己在哪里或该往哪走，走错路只是选错了路线，两者程度不同 (Do not confuse 迷路 with 走错路 — 迷路means being completely disoriented and not knowing where you are or which way to go, while 走错路 simply means taking the wrong route)

Origin & History

迷 = 辶 (movement radical) + 米 (rice, phonetic) — to lose one's way; 路 = 足 (foot radical) + 各 (each/passing, phonetic) — road, path. Together: to lose one's way on the road.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal