谜
mí · HSK 7
puzzler
🧩 谜 = 讠 speech + 迷 (lost) — words that leave you lost: a riddle
The 讠 speech radical sits beside 迷 (mí, to be lost or confused), which also supplies the sound mí. A 谜 is language built to confuse — a puzzle or riddle whose answer is the crux you must solve.
谜 — speech radical 讠 + 迷 mí (lost/confused)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The speech radical 讠 signals meaning related to words, while 迷 supplies the sound mí and the sense of being lost or puzzled. Together they form 谜, 'riddle' — words designed to bewilder the listener.