The word 意犹未尽 is formed by the sequential combination of four characters: 意 (meaning "feeling" or "idea"), 犹 (meaning "still" or "as if"), 未 (meaning "not yet"), and 尽 (meaning "to exhaust" or "to finish"). Each character contributes directly to the literal meaning, with 意 as the subject, 犹 indicating ongoing state, 未 expressing negation, and 尽 denoting completion, resulting in the literal formation "feeling still not exhausted", which expresses a state of lingering interest or incomplete satisfaction.