ngaan5 gam1 gam1眼甘甘
Jyutpingngaan5 gam1 gam1
Yalengáahn gām gām
Definition
Staring longingly, eagerly, or fixedly at someone or something.
colloquialdescriptionsemotion
How it's used
Focuses on the intensity of a gaze driven by desire or craving. While it can imply lust, it is frequently used for inanimate objects like food or expensive gadgets that someone desperately wants to possess. The suffix 咁樣 or 噉 is often added to connect the adjective to the verb of looking.
Examples
He is staring at the cake with longing eyes.
Why are you staring so greedily at someone else's phone?
Related words
Common phrases
to stare longingly
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with simply staring, which is usually described as 望實 or 瞪眼. This term specifically carries the nuance of wanting or coveting what is being looked at.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
