瞬间

• Pinyin: shùn jiān
• Hanzi breakdown: 瞬 = 目 (eye) + 舜 (phonetic, legendary emperor) — to blink; 间 = 门 (gate) + 日 (sun) — a gap between

Meaning

An instant; a split second; a fleeting moment. An extremely brief period of time.

Used both as a noun (一瞬间 — in an instant) and an adverb (瞬间消失 — vanished in an instant). Frequently appears in literary, journalistic, and everyday contexts to express speed, sudden change, or ephemeral beauty. A core vocabulary item for expressing immediacy and transience.

Examples

1. 地震发生的瞬间，她本能地用双手护住了头部。 At the moment the earthquake struck, she instinctively covered her head with both hands.
2. 烟花在夜空中绽放，那一瞬间无比绚丽，却转眼即逝。 Fireworks bloomed in the night sky—brilliant in that instant, but gone in the blink of an eye.
3. 他的眼神在瞬间闪过一丝犹豫，随即恢复了平静。 A hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes for an instant, then he quickly regained his calm.

Usage Guide

Context: literature, description, journalism, everyday

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 高速摄影机能够捕捉到子弹穿透玻璃那一瞬间的完整细节。(High-speed cameras can capture the complete details of the instant a bullet passes through glass.)
• 在那个决定命运的瞬间，他选择了放弃逃跑，转身去救被困的同伴。(In that fate-defining instant, he chose to give up fleeing and turned back to rescue his trapped companion.)

Don't Say

• 不能将 瞬间 与 时刻 完全互换 — 瞬间 emphasises extreme brevity (a split second), while 时刻 refers to a particular moment in time, which may not be extremely brief

Origin & History

瞬 (blink of an eye) + 间 (within, a brief span of time)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal