隐 (yǐn) is a Chinese character meaning “hidden”. It is written from 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)) and 急 (urgent; anxious; in a hurry), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “hidden”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
阝 + 急
Left–right structure
- 阝 left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑) · fù meaning
- 急 urgent; anxious; in a hurry · jí simplified form
Structure from: 说文解字: 隱，蔽也。从𨸏㥯聲（繁体作隱；简化字右旁以「急」取代「㥯」）
Memory aid
Someone in a hurry (急) ducks behind the hillside wall (阝) and drops out of sight — hidden.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 隐藏yǐn cángto hide; to conceal隐 = yǐn
- 隐私yǐn sīprivacy; personal secrets隐 = yǐn
- 隐匿yǐn nìto hide; to conceal隐 = yǐn
- 隐晦yǐn huìobscure; veiled (of meaning)隐 = yǐn
Go deeper
All readings
hidden; to hide
hidden; concealed; to hide; secret; faint, indistinct
藏起来不显露；隐蔽的，不公开的。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 隐藏yǐn cángto hide; to conceal隐 = yǐn
- 隐私yǐn sīprivacy; personal secrets隐 = yǐn
- 隐匿yǐn nìto hide; to conceal隐 = yǐn
- 隐晦yǐn huìobscure; veiled (of meaning)隐 = yǐn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 隐 mean?
隐 (yǐn) means hidden; concealed; to hide; secret; faint, indistinct.
How do you pronounce 隐?
It is pronounced yǐn.
What parts is 隐 made of?
阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)) and 急 (urgent; anxious; in a hurry), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 隱，蔽也。从𨸏㥯聲（繁体作隱；简化字右旁以「急」取代「㥯」）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 隐 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 隐?
阝. 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 隐?
Common ones are 隐藏, 隐私, 隐匿. The reading of 隐 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.