闻 (wén): to hear, to smell
闻 (wén) is a Chinese character meaning “to hear, to smell.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 门 (phonetic) and 耳 (semantic). It ranks #825 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 闻 ear. Its radical form 耳 (ear) appears in many related characters such as 职 (zhí, job, duty), 联 (lián, connect, unite), 耳 (ěr, ear).
Definitions
- to hear, to smell
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 闻 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 闻
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 丑闻 | chǒu wén | scandal |
| 传闻 | chuán wén | rumor |
| 闻到 | wén dào | to smell |
| 绯闻 | fēi wén | sex scandal |
| 难闻 | nán wén | unpleasant smell |
| 新闻界 | xīn wén jiè | the press |
| 新闻记者 | xīn wén jì zhě | journalist |
| 耳闻 | ěr wén | to hear of |
| 默默无闻 | mò mò wú wén | (idiom) unknown |
| 不闻不问 | bù wén bù wèn | not to hear, not to question (idiom) |
| 骇人听闻 | hài rén tīng wén | shocking |
| 闻所未闻 | wén suǒ wèi wén | unheard of |
| 新闻网 | xīn wén wǎng | news agency |
| 耸人听闻 | sǒng rén tīng wén | to sensationalize (idiom) |
| 要闻 | yào wén | important news story |
闻 appears in 100 compound words: 23 as the first character, 54 as the last, and 23 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 闻 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (44)
synonym of 博學強記 /博学强记 (bóxuéqiángjì, “to have a lot of knowledge and a good memory”)
to not bother to ask or to listen; to show no interest in; to be indifferent to
lit. heard in the morning and changed by the evening; to correct an error very quickly (idiom)
synonym of 博學強記 /博学强记 (bóxuéqiángjì, “to have a lot of knowledge and a good memory”)
lit. heard in the morning and changed by the evening; to correct an error very quickly (idiom)
Showing 12 of 44 idioms containing 闻.
Example Sentences
听到这个消息后，大家都很兴奋。
Tīngdào zhè gè xiāoxi hòu, dàjiā dōu hěn xīngfèn.
After hearing this news, everyone was very excited.
【新闻点评】2026年你眼中的中国经济
xīn wén diǎn píng 2 0 2 6 nián nǐ yǎn zhōng de zhōng guó jīng jì
【News Comments】China's economy in your eyes in 2026
新闻中的法律/遗赠税修法 两议题聚焦
xīn wén zhōng de fǎ lǜ yí zèng shuì xiū fǎ liǎng yì tí jù jiāo
The law/bequest tax amendment in the news focuses on two issues
...:鞭炮声声 笑声朗朗——火箭军某部春节见闻
. . . biān pào shēng shēng xiào shēng lǎng lǎng huǒ jiàn jūn mǒu bù chūn jié jiàn wén
... Firecrackers and Laughing - A Rocket Force Department's Spring Festival
(新春见闻)探访阿波迪科技小院:中国春节“撞上”巴...
xīn chūn jiàn wén tàn fǎng ā bō dí kē jì xiǎo yuàn zhōng guó chūn jié zhuàng shǎng bā . . .
(Chinese New Year) A visit to Abodi Science and Technology Center: Chinese New Year "collides" with Ba...
你闻闻香味，五香茶叶蛋香不香？
Nǐ wén wén xiāngwèi, wǔxiāng cháyèdàn xiāng bù xiāng?
You smell it. Do five spice tea eggs smell good?
闻起来好香喔。你在煮什么？
Wén qǐlai hǎo xiāng ō. Nǐ zài zhǔ shénme?
This smells great! What are you cooking?
你还知道花闻起来是怎样的吗？
Nǐ hái zhīdào huā wén qǐlai shì zěnyàng de ma?
Do you even know how to smell the flowers?
这只梨闻上去很香。
Zhè zhī lí wénshàngqù hěn xiāng.
This pear smells nice.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 闻 (wén) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 闻 and 们?
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What is the radical of 闻?
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What are common words containing 闻?
What characters sound the same as 闻 (wén)?
Is 闻 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 闻 with real-time feedback
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