昧 (mèi) is a Chinese character meaning “dark”. It is written from 日 (sun; day) and 未 (not yet; have not), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “dark; unclear”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
日 + 未
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字：昧，从日未聲
Memory aid
The sun (日) has not yet (未) come up, so everything is still dark and hard to make out.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 愚昧yú mèiignorant; benighted昧 = mèi
- 暧昧ài mèiambiguous; unclear (especially about a relationship)昧 = mèi
Go deeper
All readings
dark; unclear
dark; obscure; unclear; ignorant; to hide or conceal (the truth)
光线暗，不明亮；引申为糊涂、不明事理，也指隐瞒。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 愚昧yú mèiignorant; benighted昧 = mèi
- 暧昧ài mèiambiguous; unclear (especially about a relationship)昧 = mèi
Sound component
未 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 昧 mean?
昧 (mèi) means dark; obscure; unclear; ignorant; to hide or conceal (the truth).
How do you pronounce 昧?
It is pronounced mèi.
What parts is 昧 made of?
日 (sun; day) and 未 (not yet; have not), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字：昧，从日未聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 昧 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 昧?
日. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 昧?
Common ones are 愚昧 and 暧昧. The reading of 昧 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.