What's the exact meaning of とする in this sentence?


I'm trying to understand the construction もうろうとしてる in this line from Mob
Psycho 100 Episode 12:

> **もうろうとしてる** ようだけど。

It's translated as "he looks like he's about to pass out"。

I found a usage of もうろうとする on
[eow.alc.co.jp](https://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%e3%82%82%e3%81%86%e3%82%8d%e3%81%86%e3%81%a8%e3%81%99%e3%82%8b)
which matches the meaning "to zone out", but I'd like to understand how to
deconstruct this form, if that's possible. (for example, my dictionary doesn't
know the above construction, so I imagine it's a compound of some kind).

I thought this might be とする, meaning "to be about to ...", as that matches the
translation, but according to
[jisho](https://jisho.org/word/%E3%81%A8%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B), that form must
follow the volitional form of a verb, whereas here, it follows a と-adverb (or
たる-adjective, depending how you look at it).

I've also found
[必要とする](https://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E5%BF%85%E8%A6%81%E3%81%A8%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B&ref=sa)
in the wild which seems like a similar construct, but here 必要 is just a
regular noun (and that word actually appears in the dictionary too).

Does anyone know if there is some rule that could explain this construct?




Did you see definition #8 in the Jisho link you posted to とする? I think that
should clear things up for you:

> to feel (e.g. after sound symbolism or psychological experience word); to
> look; to feel like​

もうろう is clearly a psychological experience meaning hazy/"out of it", so
もうろうとする can be translated as "to feel/act hazy".

The "about to pass out" part they provided is a freedom of translation. The
actual Japanese sentence doesn't explicitly say anything about passing out.




Did you see definition #8 in the Jisho link you posted to とする? I think that
should clear things up for you:

> to feel (e.g. after sound symbolism or psychological experience word); to
> look; to feel like​

もうろう is clearly a psychological experience meaning hazy/"out of it", so
もうろうとする can be translated as "to feel/act hazy".

The "about to pass out" part they provided is a freedom of translation. The
actual Japanese sentence doesn't explicitly say anything about passing out.

