渺小

• 병음: miǎo xiǎo
• 한자 분석: 渺 = 氵 (water radical) + 眇 (tiny, barely visible) — a minuscule presence on an endless expanse; 小 = 小 — small

뜻

보잘것없다; 미미하다

Carries philosophical and emotional weight. Often used reflexively when one feels humbled before nature, history, or immense power. Common in literary and philosophical writing. Unlike 小 (small) or 微小 (tiny in size), 渺小 implies existential smallness or moral and social insignificance.

예문

1. 站在绵延数千公里的青藏高原腹地，即便是曾经自视甚高的旅行者也不禁感受到个体生命在壮阔自然面前的渺小与脆弱。
2. 哲学家认为，人类在宇宙漫长的时间轴上不过是一个转瞬即逝的渺小存在，但这并不妨碍每一个个体在有限的生命中创造属于自己的意义。
3. 那位曾经权倾一时的官员在受审时低下了头，当年不可一世的威势已荡然无存，留下的只是一个渺小而懊悔的落魄身影。

사용 가이드

맥락: philosophy, literature, nature writing, personal reflection, social commentary

어조: reflective

올바른 표현

• 这部科幻小说通过描绘人类文明在星际尺度上的渺小处境，引发读者重新审视文明存续的意义以及面对宇宙未知时所应持有的谦逊态度。(This science fiction novel, by depicting the insignificant position of human civilisation on an interstellar scale, prompts readers to reexamine the meaning of civilisational continuity and the humility one should maintain when confronting the unknowns of the universe.)
• 支教老师在偏远山区工作的岁月里，时常感到自己力量的渺小，却又在每一个孩子眼中读出了希望的光芒，由此获得了继续坚守的动力。(During the years the volunteer teacher worked in a remote mountainous area, he often felt the insignificance of his own strength, yet each time he read the gleam of hope in a child's eyes, he found renewed motivation to persevere.)

피해야 할 표현

• 将'渺小'用于中性或正面的'微小'场合 — 渺小带有贬义或哲学自省的语气，若仅描述物理上的细小而不含负面评价，应改用'微小''细小'或'小巧' (Do not use 渺小 in neutral contexts meaning simply tiny in size — 渺小 carries a deprecatory or philosophically self-reflective tone; for mere physical smallness without negative connotation, use 微小, 细小, or 小巧 instead)

기원과 역사

渺 = 氵 (water radical) + 眇 (tiny, one-eyed) — like a tiny drop lost in vast water; 小 (small) — reinforcing the sense of minute scale. Together: so small as to be nearly lost from sight, like a speck on an endless expanse of water.

문화적 배경

세대: All ages

사회적 배경: Universal