How to Write 眯 (mī) — Meaning “to squint; to get into the eye”

Imagine a tiny grain of rice (米) flying into your eye (目), making you squint to get it out. This picture links the two components and the two meanings: "squint" and "get into the eye". It is easy to recall whenever you see the character.

Write the left radical 目 first, making it narrow and taking up about one-third of the total width. Then add 米 on the right, with the horizontal stroke crossing through the middle of 米. A common mistake is making 目 too wide or placing 米 too low, which makes the character unbalanced.

All three share the eye radical 目, but 眯 has 米 (rice) on the right and means to squint or have dust in the eye. 相 has 木 (tree) and means "mutual" or "appearance". 盹 has 屯 on the right and means to doze off briefly. So the right side changes both meaning and pronunciation.

眯 is common in everyday conversation: 眯眼 (squint) is used when looking at bright light or focusing, and 眯一会儿 means taking a short nap. In Chinese culture, squinting can also show suspicion or intense observation, but this is not a strong rule. The character appears often in daily life, for example when saying "灰尘眯眼" (dust got in my eyes).

Common words containing 眯 include: 眯眼 (mī yǎn) — squint; 眯一会儿 (mī yī huì er) — to take a nap; to close one's eyes for a bit; 灰尘眯眼 (huī chén mī yǎn) — Dust getting in one's eyes..