陷 (xiàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to sink”. It is written from 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)) and 臽 (small pit (said to show a person above a pit)), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “to sink; trap”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
阝 + 臽
Left–right structure
- 阝 left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑) · fù meaning
- 臽 small pit (said to show a person above a pit) · xiàn sound
Structure from: 说文解字：陷，高下也。从𨸏从臽，臽亦声。Modern IDS ⿰阝臽; strokes 2+8 cross-checked against hanzi-writer-data (阝 2, 臽 8, 陷 10)
Memory aid
Beside the mound (阝) lies a pit (臽). Step off the hill carelessly and you sink straight in — to fall into, a trap.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 陷阱xiàn jǐngtrap; pitfall; snare陷 = xiàn
- 凹陷āo xiànto cave in; to sink; a depression陷 = xiàn
- 诬陷wū xiànto frame (someone); to falsely incriminate陷 = xiàn
- 沦陷lún xiànto fall into enemy hands陷 = xiàn
Go deeper
All readings
to sink; to fall into; trap
to sink; to get stuck in; to fall into; a pitfall or trap; to frame someone; (of a city) to fall; a defect
掉进、沉下去；使人落入圈套；被攻破、失守；缺点。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 陷阱xiàn jǐngtrap; pitfall; snare陷 = xiàn
- 凹陷āo xiànto cave in; to sink; a depression陷 = xiàn
- 诬陷wū xiànto frame (someone); to falsely incriminate陷 = xiàn
- 沦陷lún xiànto fall into enemy hands陷 = xiàn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 陷 mean?
陷 (xiàn) means to sink; to get stuck in; to fall into; a pitfall or trap; to frame someone; (of a city) to fall; a defect.
How do you pronounce 陷?
It is pronounced xiàn.
What parts is 陷 made of?
阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)) and 臽 (small pit (said to show a person above a pit)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字：陷，高下也。从𨸏从臽，臽亦声。Modern IDS ⿰阝臽; strokes 2+8 cross-checked against hanzi-writer-data (阝 2, 臽 8, 陷 10). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 陷 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 陷?
阜. 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 陷?
Common ones are 陷阱, 凹陷, 诬陷, 沦陷. The reading of 陷 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.