The Chinese compound word **渺茫** is formed through the combination of two semantically related characters, both carrying connotations of vast, indistinct expanses. **渺** (miǎo) originally depicts water stretching to the horizon, meaning "vast and distant," while **茫** (máng) means "boundless and obscure," often describing a hazy, limitless view. When paired, they create a binome (连绵词) that intensifies the sense of immense, blurry distance. Through metaphorical extension, this concrete imagery of physical vastness and obscurity evolves to describe abstract states—such as faint hopes, uncertain outcomes, or elusive prospects—where something is so distant or vague as to be nearly intangible or beyond grasp. Thus, the formation leverages both characters' shared thematic elements of boundless obscurity to convey a unified, nuanced meaning.