闷 (mēn): stuffy, shut indoors, to smother
闷 (mēn) is a Chinese character meaning “stuffy.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 门 (phonetic) and 心 (semantic). It ranks #1813 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 闷 heart. Its radical form 门 (gate) appears in many related characters such as 门 (mén, door, gate), 间 (jiān, room, between), 闪 (shǎn, to flash, to dodge).
Definitions
- stuffy
- shut indoors
- to smother
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 闷 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 郁闷adjective | yù mèn | gloomy |
| 闷闷不乐phrase | mèn mèn bù lè | depressed |
| 沉闷adjective | chén mèn | oppressive (of weather) |
| 纳闷verb | nà mèn | puzzled |
| 苦闷adjective | kǔ mèn | depressed |
| 解闷verb | jiě mèn | to relieve boredom or melancholy |
| 闷热adjective | mēn rè | sultry |
| 生闷气 | shēng mèn qì | to seethe |
| 烦闷adjective | fán mèn | moody |
| 逗闷子 | dòu mèn zi | (dialect) to joke |
| 愁闷adjective | chóu mèn | depressed |
| 憋闷adjective | biē men | to feel oppressed |
| 闷声发大财 | mēn shēng fā dà cái | to amass wealth while keeping a low profile (idiom) |
| 闷声不响phrase | mēn shēng bù xiǎng | to keep silent |
| 散心解闷 | sàn xīn jiě mèn | to divert one's mind from boredom (idiom) |
闷 appears in 32 compound words: 31 as the first character, 56 as the last, and 13 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 闷 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Showing 3 of 4 idioms containing 闷.
Example Sentences
房间里太闷了，打开窗户透透气吧。
Fángjiān lǐ tài mēn le, dǎkāi chuānghu tòu tòu qì ba.
The room is too stuffy; open the window to let in some fresh air.
天气多变，时而闷热，时而凉风，冷热交替。
tiān qì duō biàn , shí ér mēn rè , shí ér liáng fēng , lěng rè jiāo tì .
The weather is unpredictable—sometimes it’s muggy, sometimes there’s a cool breeze, and the temperatures keep fluctuating.
近期，中东部暑热持续，不少地方仍然被高温闷热天气占据。
jìn qī , zhōng dōng bù shǔ rè chí xù , bù shǎo dì fāng réng rán bèi gāo wēn mēn rè tiān qì zhàn jù .
Recently, the heatwave has persisted in central and eastern China, with many areas still experiencing hot and humid conditions.
不少网友纳闷：今年蝙蝠闯入家中的情况变多了吗？
bù shǎo wǎng yǒu nà mēn : jīn nián 蝙 蝠 chuǎng rù jiā zhōng de qíng kuàng biàn duō le ma ?
Many netizens are wondering: Have there been more instances of bats flying into homes this year?
不爽4月婴哭闹!新手爸枕头闷压致死 狠塞行李袋弃尸山坡
bù shuǎng 4 yuè yīng kū nào ! xīn shǒu bà zhěn tóu mēn yā zhì sǐ hěn sāi háng lǐ dài qì shī shān pō
Fed up with his 4-month-old’s crying! New dad suffocates baby with pillow, stuffs body into luggage bag, and dumps it on a hillside
公司总裁赞神韵照亮沉闷黑暗的世界
gōng sī zǒng cái zàn shén yùn zhào liàng chén mēn hēi àn de shì jiè
Company President Praises Shen Yun for Bringing Light to a Dull and Dark World
台北的夏天非常闷热潮湿喔！
Táiběi de xiàtiān fēicháng mēnrè cháoshī ō!
Summer in Taipei is very hot and humid!
今天不比昨天闷热。
Jīntiān bù bǐ zuótiān mēnrè.
It is less muggy today than it was yesterday.
咖啡让我在沉闷的音乐会中保持清醒。
Kāfēi ràng wǒ zài chénmèn de yīnyuèhuì zhòngbǎo chí qīngxǐng.
The coffee enabled me to stay awake during the dull concert.
我纳闷我为什么不该那样做。
Wǒ nàmèn wǒ wèishénme bù gāi nàyàng zuò.
I wonder why I shouldn't do that.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 心 (heart) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 闷 (mēn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 闷 and 问?
How many strokes does 闷 have?
What is the radical of 闷?
What are the components of 闷?
What are common words containing 闷?
What characters sound the same as 闷 (mēn)?
Is 闷 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 闷 with real-time feedback
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