雾

• Pinyin: wù
• Hanzi breakdown: 雾 = 雨 + 务 (rain radical + phonetic component 务 — atmospheric water droplets forming fog)

Meaning

Fog; mist. A thick cloud of tiny water droplets near the ground that reduces visibility.

In modern Chinese, 雾 is also used in 雾霾 (smog/haze) and 迷雾 (figurative fog of confusion). Common in weather forecasting, environmental reporting, and literary description. Also appears in 雾里看花 (looking at flowers through fog — unable to see clearly).

Examples

1. 清晨的山谷被浓雾笼罩，能见度不足十米，行车极为危险。 The morning valley was shrouded in dense fog, with visibility under ten meters, making driving extremely dangerous.
2. 持续的工业排放加剧了城市的雾霾问题，引发了社会各界对空气质量的广泛关注。 Ongoing industrial emissions have worsened the city’s smog problem, drawing widespread concern about air quality.
3. 他在迷雾中摸索了许久，终于找到了解决这一技术难题的突破口。 He fumbled around in the haze for a long time before finally finding a breakthrough to solve the technical challenge.

Usage Guide

Context: weather, environment, literature, transportation, air quality

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 受低气压影响，沿海港口未来四十八小时将有低能见度浓雾，港务局已暂停大型船舶进出港作业。(Affected by low pressure, the coastal port will have dense fog with low visibility for the next forty-eight hours, and the port authority has suspended large ship arrivals and departures.)
• 作家写道，故乡冬晨的雾笼住老街石板路，像梦一样朦胧，也唤起了许多年前宁静的童年记忆。(The writer describes the fog of a winter morning in his hometown, which covers the old stone street like a dream and brings back quiet childhood memories from years ago.)

Don't Say

• 雾 and 霾 interchangeably — 雾 is natural water-droplet fog that reduces visibility, while 霾 is haze caused by fine particulate matter (pollution); 雾霾 combines both; in environmental reporting, the distinction matters

Origin & History

雾 is a standalone Chinese character for fog/mist; radical 雨 (rain) indicates atmospheric moisture phenomena

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal