烟 (yān): smoke

烟 (yān) is a Chinese character meaning “smoke.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 火 (semantic) and 因 (phonetic). It ranks #967 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 烟 fire. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 火 (huǒ, fire), 灯 (dēng, lamp, light), 烦 (fán, to feel vexed).

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 4 Radical: 火 fire10 strokesFrequency #967火 semantic 因 phonetic

Definitions

smoke

Etymology & Origin

烟

pictophoneticfire

Decomposition: ⿰火因 (layout: left-right)

Components:火semantic 因phonetic

Stroke Order

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Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
抽烟verb	chōu yān	variant of 抽菸\|抽烟
香烟noun	xiāng yān	smoke from incense (burned as an offering to one's ancestors)
吸烟verb	xī yān	to smoke
烟雾noun	yān wù	smoke
烟草noun	yān cǎo	tobacco
烟花noun	yān huā	fireworks
戒烟verb	jiè yān	to give up smoking
冒烟verb	mào yān	to discharge smoke
烟囱noun	yān cōng	chimney
烟火noun	yān huǒ	smoke and fire
烟灰缸noun	yān huī gāng	ashtray
烟斗noun	yān dǒu	(smoking) pipe
一溜烟adverb	yī liù yān	like a wisp of smoke
烟头noun	yān tóu	cigarette butt
烟消云散	yān xiāo yún sàn	(idiom) to vanish like smoke in thin air

102

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

烟 appears in 102 compound words: 51 as the first character, 34 as the last, and 15 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 烟 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

囱cōng

0.6862,172 co-occurrences

雾wù

0.6762,894 co-occurrences

熏xūn

0.524465 co-occurrences

浓nóng

0.515737 co-occurrences

草cǎo

0.5114,498 co-occurrences

尘chén

0.481404 co-occurrences

吸xī

0.4762,527 co-occurrences

窜cuàn

0.47510 co-occurrences

稀xī

0.437522 co-occurrences

炊chuī

0.43682 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (14)

抽油烟机chōuyóuyānjīHSK 5+

extractor hood

noun

浩如烟海hàorúyānhǎiHSK 7+

a tremendous amount; voluminous

phrase

荒无人烟huāng wú rén yānHSK 7+

desolate and uninhabited (idiom)

phrase

荒烟蔓草huāng yān màn cǎoHSK 7+

lit. abandoned by men and choked with weeds; desolate (idiom)

phrase

灰飞烟灭huīfēiyānmièHSK 6+

to vanish completely

phrase

狼烟四起láng yān sì qǐHSK 6+

fire beacons on all sides (idiom); enveloped in the flames of war

phrase

渺无人烟miǎowúrényānHSK 7+

to be deserted; to be desolate; to be uninhabited

phrase

七窍生烟qī qiào shēng yānHSK 7+

lit. spouting smoke through the seven orifices (idiom); fig. to seethe with anger

phrase

人烟稠密rényānchóumìHSK 7+

to be densely populated

phrase

人烟稀少rényānxīshǎoHSK 7+

to be sparsely populated

phrase

烟消云散yān xiāo yún sànHSK 4+

(idiom) to vanish like smoke in thin air; to disappear

phrase

人烟浩穰rényānhàorángHSK 7+

synonym of 人煙稠密 /人烟稠密 (rényānchóumì, “to be densely populated”)

phrase

Showing 12 of 14 idioms containing 烟.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

工厂排放的浓烟对周围居民的健康造成了严重影响。

Gōngchǎng páifàng de nóngyān duì zhōuwéi jūmín de jiànkāng zàochéng le yánzhòng yǐngxiǎng.

The thick smoke emitted by factories has caused serious health impacts on surrounding residents.

百度新闻Feb 2026

“泉”在济南过大年丨烟火年味浓!济南芙蓉街客流持续..

quán zài jì nán guò dà nián 丨 yān huǒ nián wèi nóng ! jì nán 芙蓉 jiē kè liú chí xù . .

"Spring" celebrates the New Year in Jinan丨Fireworks have a strong New Year's flavor! Jinan Furong Street passenger flow continues:

百度新闻Feb 2026

“贵州烟火气·黔味中国年”天眼纪录·回家|开往春...

guì zhōu yān huǒ qì 黔 wèi zhōng guó nián tiān yǎn jì lù huí jiā kāi wǎng chūn . . .

"Guizhou Fireworks and Qianwei Chinese Year" Tianyan Record Home|Drive to Spring...

百度新闻Feb 2026

贵州烟火气·黔味中国年丨览林城山色,赏乌江画廊...

guì zhōu yān huǒ qì 黔 wèi zhōng guó nián 丨 lǎn lín chéng shān sè , shǎng wū jiāng huà láng . . .

Guizhou Smoke and Fireworks - Qianlian Chinese New Year 丨visit the forest city mountain color, enjoy the Wujiang River gallery...

百度新闻Feb 2026

古镇烟火与家常珍味,每一家餐厅都是精选丨寻味青...

gǔ zhèn yān huǒ yú jiā cháng zhēn wèi , měi yī jiā cān tīng dū shì jīng xuǎn 丨 xún wèi qīng . . .

The most important thing to remember is the fact that you can't afford to lose the money you've spent on your own.

百度新闻Feb 2026

贵州烟火气·黔味中国年|马年新春“入戏”都匀 ...

guì zhōu yān huǒ qì 黔 wèi zhōng guó nián mǎ nián xīn chūn rù xì dū yún . . .

Guizhou Fireworks - Qianqian Taste Chinese New Year|The New Year of the Horse "play" Duyun ...

Tatoeba

你介意我抽根烟吗？

Nǐ jièyì wǒ chōu gēn yān ma?

Do you mind if I smoke a cigarette?

Tatoeba

戒烟容易，戒你太难！

Jièyān róngyì, jiè nǐ tài nán!

Quitting smoking is easy, quitting you is too hard.

Tatoeba

我一定要把香烟戒了！

Wǒ yīdìngyào bǎ xiāngyān jiè le!

I'm definitely going to quit smoking!

Tatoeba

小王听从了我的劝告，把烟戒了！

Xiǎo Wáng tīngcóng le wǒ de quàngào, bǎ yān jiè le!

Xiao Wang followed my advice and quit smoking.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 烟 (yān) mean in Chinese?

烟 (yān) primarily means "smoke." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #967 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 烟 and 恩?

烟 (yān) and 恩 (ēn) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 火 vs 忄 (same 因 component).

How many strokes does 烟 have?

烟 is written with 10 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 烟?

The radical associated with 烟 is 火 (fire). This radical appears in many characters related to fire.

What are the components of 烟?

烟 is composed of: 火 (semantic), 因 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰火因 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 烟?

Common words with 烟 include: 抽烟 (chōu yān, "variant of 抽菸|抽烟"); 香烟 (xiāng yān, "smoke from incense (burned as an offering to one's ancestors)"); 吸烟 (xī yān, "to smoke"); 烟雾 (yān wù, "smoke"); 烟草 (yān cǎo, "tobacco"). There are over 102 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 烟 (yān)?

Several characters share the pronunciation yān: 咽 (throat), 眼 (eye), 言 (words), 严 (tight (closely sealed)), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 烟 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

No. The simplified form is 烟 and the traditional form is 煙.

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烟 (yān): smoke

Definitions

Etymology & Origin

Stroke Order

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Strongest Collocations

Idioms & Chengyu (14)

Example Sentences

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 火 (fire) component

Related Characters

Homophones — Characters pronounced yān

Frequently Asked Questions

Practice writing 烟 with real-time feedback