耽 (dān) is a Chinese character meaning “to delay”. It is written from 耳 (ear) and 冘 (yín — an old character, today seen mainly as the right-hand sound part of 沈, 枕, 耽), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “to delay”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
耳 + 冘
Left–right structure
- 耳 ear · ěr meaning
- 冘 yín — an old character, today seen mainly as the right-hand sound part of 沈, 枕, 耽 · yín sound
Structure from: 说文解字: 耽，耳大垂也。从耳冘声
Memory aid
An ear (耳) next to 冘: someone who stops to lend an ear to every story ends up delayed.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 耽误dān wuto delay; to hold up耽 = dān
- 耽搁dān geto delay; to stop over耽 = dān
Go deeper
All readings
to delay
to delay; to hold up; to indulge in
拖延；耽搁。也指沉溺、迷恋。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 耽误dān wuto delay; to hold up耽 = dān
- 耽搁dān geto delay; to stop over耽 = dān
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 耽 mean?
耽 (dān) means to delay; to hold up; to indulge in.
How do you pronounce 耽?
It is pronounced dān.
What parts is 耽 made of?
耳 (ear) and 冘 (yín — an old character, today seen mainly as the right-hand sound part of 沈, 枕, 耽), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 耽，耳大垂也。从耳冘声. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 耽 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 耽?
耳. 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 耽?
Common ones are 耽误 and 耽搁. The reading of 耽 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.