玩失踪
wán shīzōng
Ghosting in Chinese is 玩失踪 (wán shīzōng).
In modern social contexts, 玩失踪 is the standard way to describe 'ghosting' someone in a relationship or friendship. While it can be used for any disappearance, it is most commonly used for this specific way of breaking a relationship or connection.
Meaning: a way to break relationship (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase 玩失踪 literally means 'to play missing' or 'to play at being missing'.
Which one should you use?
While 玩失踪 is the colloquial standard, you may encounter 骤然失联 to express suddenly losing contact in more formal settings. For informal conversations where you want to convey that someone has mysteriously vanished, you can use 蒸发.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
玩失踪 is a colloquial expression rather than a formal psychological term. For formal contexts, use 骤然失联.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Taiwanese Mandarin, the phrase 蒸發 is used to express ghosting.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase functions as a verb phrase and does not require a direct object to be grammatically complete. However, you can add a person after it, for example by saying 对他玩失踪 (to ghost him).
How do you pronounce it?
wán shīzōng
Did you know?
- The formal term 骤然失联 describes a sudden loss of contact and is often used in news reports or police statements regarding missing persons.
- While 玩失踪 describes the act of ghosting, it carries a playful nuance because of the word 玩, meaning 'to play'. It sounds less like a clinical psychological phenomenon and more like someone is intentionally playing a game of hide-and-seek with their presence.
- Chinese lacks a single dedicated word for 'ghosting' and instead uses verb phrases that describe the action of disappearing.
Examples in context
- 这位朋友竟然人间蒸发了，一点消息都没有。This friend unexpectedly evaporated from the mortal world, without a trace.
- 公司与他的合作突然断联了，我们完全不知道原因。The company suddenly lost connection with him, and we have no idea about the reason.
- 他有一天就从我的生活中消失了，都不再回复我的消息。He suddenly disappeared from my life and never replied to my messages again.
- 他约我出去后就蒸发了，一个消息都没有，不知道他怎么想的。He evaporated after asking me out, no message at all. I have no idea what he was thinking.
- 他竟然对我玩失踪。Tā jìngrán duì wǒ wán shīzōng.He actually ghosted me.
- 这种玩失踪的行为很不礼貌。Zhè zhǒng wán shīzōng de xíngwéi hěn bù lǐmào.This kind of ghosting is very impolite.
- 我不想再经历一次玩失踪。Wǒ bù xiǎng zài jīnglì yīcì wán shīzōng.I don't want to experience ghosting again.
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about a recent dating experience.
- 俊杰 Junjie你最近和那个人怎么样了？Nǐ zuìjìn hé nàge rén zěnmeyàng le?How are things going with that guy lately?
- 晓雯 Xiaowen他突然对我玩失踪了。Tā tūrán duì wǒ wán shīzōng le.He suddenly ghosted me.
- 俊杰 Junjie这也太过分了吧！Zhè yě tài guòfèn le ba!That is way too much!
- 晓雯 Xiaowen对啊，我真不知道为什么。Duì a, wǒ zhēn bù zhīdào wèishéme.Yeah, I really don't know why.
