闲 (xián) is a Chinese character meaning “idle”. It is written from 门 (door; gate) and 木 (tree; wood), one enclosing the other, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “free; idle”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
门 + 木
Enclosing structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（⿵门木），已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：门 3 画 + 木 4 画 = 7 画
Memory aid
A gate (门) with a tree (木) standing right inside the doorway. Nobody is coming or going through that gate — so there is nothing to do: free, idle time.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 休闲xiū xiánleisure; to relax闲 = xián
- 空闲kòng xiánfree time; idle闲 = xián
- 悠闲yōu xiánleisurely; carefree闲 = xián
- 闲逛xián guàngto stroll aimlessly; to loaf about闲 = xián
Go deeper
All readings
idle; free
idle; unoccupied; free (of time); not busy; leisure
没有事情做的；空着不用的。也指闲暇的时间。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 休闲xiū xiánleisure; to relax闲 = xián
- 空闲kòng xiánfree time; idle闲 = xián
- 悠闲yōu xiánleisurely; carefree闲 = xián
- 闲逛xián guàngto stroll aimlessly; to loaf about闲 = xián
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 闲 mean?
闲 (xián) means idle; unoccupied; free (of time); not busy; leisure.
How do you pronounce 闲?
It is pronounced xián.
What parts is 闲 made of?
门 (door; gate) and 木 (tree; wood), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（⿵门木），已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：门 3 画 + 木 4 画 = 7 画. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 闲 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 闲?
门. 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 闲?
Common ones are 休闲 and 空闲. The reading of 闲 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.