严 (yán): tight (closely sealed), stern, strict
严 (yán) is a Chinese character meaning “tight (closely sealed).” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亚 (structural) and 厂 (structural). It ranks #545 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Definitions
- tight (closely sealed)
- stern
- strict
Stroke Order
Practice writing 严 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 严
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 严重adjective | yán zhòng | grave | 4 |
| 严肃adjective/verb | yán sù | (of an atmosphere etc) solemn | 5 |
| 严格adjective/verb | yán gé | strict | 4 |
| 严厉adjective | yán lì | severe | 6 |
| 严禁verb | yán jìn | to strictly prohibit | 6 |
| 严寒adjective | yán hán | bitter cold | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 尊严adjective | zūn yán | dignity |
| 严密adjective | yán mì | tight |
| 庄严adjective | zhuāng yán | solemn |
| 严峻adjective | yán jùn | grim |
| 森严adjective | sēn yán | strict |
| 严酷adjective | yán kù | bitter |
| 严刑noun | yán xíng | strict law |
| 严重性noun | yán zhòng xìng | seriousness |
| 严谨adjective | yán jǐn | rigorous |
| 戒严verb | jiè yán | to impose martial law |
| 威严adjective | wēi yán | dignified |
| 严守verb | yán shǒu | to strictly maintain |
| 严严实实adjective | yán yán shí shí | (sealed) tightly |
| 严实verb | yán shi | (sealed) tight |
| 严惩verb | yán chéng | to punish severely |
严 appears in 76 compound words: 67 as the first character, 24 as the last, and 9 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 严 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
Example Sentences
了解严字的来源，有助于理解中国文化。
le xiè yán zì de lái yuán , yǒu zhù yú lǐ xiè zhōng guó wén huā .
Understanding the origin of the character "严" (yan) helps to comprehend Chinese culture.
玉山投信首档ETF‘00988B 玉山严选非投债ETF’3/2正式募集
yù shān tóu xìn shǒu dàng E T F 0 0 9 8 8 B yù shān yán xuǎn fēi tóu zhài E T F 3 2 zhèng shì mù jí
E.SUN Investment Trust's first ETF '00988B E.SUN Yanxuan Non-investment Bond ETF'3/2 was officially raised
婆罗洲会展中心外严重车祸 两罗厘猛撞2人重伤
pó luó zhōu huì zhǎn zhōng xīn wài yán chóng chē huò liǎng luó lí měng zhuàng 2 rén chóng shāng
A serious car accident outside the Borneo Convention and Exhibition Center Two Luoli slammed into two people and seriously injured them
日本抗议中国宣布严控出口军民两用物项的日本企业与大学等名单
rì běn kàng yì zhōng guó xuān bù yán kòng chū kǒu jūn mín liǎng yòng wù xiàng de rì běn qǐ yè yǔ dà xué děng míng dān
Japan protested against China's announcement of strict controls on the export of dual-use items by Japanese companies and universities
关税变局 台需严谨评估配套
guān shuì biàn jú tái xū yán jǐn píng gū pèi tào
The tariff change bureau needs to be rigorously evaluated and supported
他对懒惰的人很严厉。
Tā duì lǎnduò de rén hěn yánlì.
He is very hard on lazy people.
形势似乎非常紧张严峻。
Xíngshì sìhū fēicháng jǐnzhāng yánjùn.
The situation seemed very tense and dangerous.
玛丽在严格节食中，对吗？
Mǎlì zài yángé jiéshí zhōng, duì ma?
Mary is on a strict diet, isn't she?
一个神圣的仪式在庄严的庙宇中举行。
Yī gè shénshèng de yíshì zài zhuāngyán de miàoyǔ zhōng jǔxíng.
A sacred ritual took place in the magnificent temple.
现在让我们谈谈严肃的事情吧！
Xiànzài ràng wǒmen tántán yánsù de shìqing ba!
Now let us talk about serious matters!
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 严 (yán) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 严 have?
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What are common words containing 严?
What characters sound the same as 严 (yán)?
Is 严 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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