Chinese symbol for “preoccupied”
心不在焉
xīn bù zài yān
absent-minded; preoccupied; inattentive; with one's thoughts wandering
The closest CC-CEDICT match for preoccupied is 心不在焉 (xīn bù zài yān), defined as: absent-minded; preoccupied; inattentive; with one's thoughts wandering.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Related words
Other words that share a character with 心不在焉.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 中心 | zhōng xīn | center; heart; core |
| 担心 (擔心) | dān xīn | anxious; worried |
| 关心 (關心) | guān xīn | to be concerned about; to care about |
| 核心 | hé xīn | core; nucleus |
| 开心 (開心) | kāi xīn | to feel happy; to rejoice |
| 心里 (心裡) | xīn li | chest; heart; mind |
| 不是 | bù shì | no; is not |
| 不能 | bù néng | cannot; must not |
| 现在 (現在) | xiàn zài | now; at present; currently |
| 语焉不详 (語焉不詳) | yǔ yān bù xiáng | to mention sth without elaborating (idiom); not giving details |
See also: Japanese symbol for “preoccupied”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.