心不在焉

Chinese
heart; mind
 
to be not at; to be out; to be dead
to be not at; to be out; to be dead; to have passed away
 where; how
simp. and trad.
(心不在焉)		 心 不在 焉
Literally: “the heart is not here”.

Etymology

From the Great Learning (《大學》) in the Book of Rites:

心不在焉，視而不見，聽而不聞，食而不知其味。此謂修身在正其心。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
心不在焉，视而不见，听而不闻，食而不知其味。此谓修身在正其心。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: The Book of Rites, c. 4th – 2nd century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Xīn bùzài yān, shì ér bùjiàn, tīng ér bù wén, shí ér bùzhī qí wèi. Cǐ wèi xiūshēn zài zhèng qí xīn. [Pinyin]
When the mind is not present, we look without seeing; we hear without understanding; and we eat and do not know the taste of what we eat. This is what is meant by saying that the cultivation of the person depends on the rectifying of the mind.

Pronunciation

Idiom

心不在焉

  1. absent-minded; absent-mindedly; preoccupied
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