焰 (yàn): flame
焰 (yàn) is a Chinese character meaning “flame.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 火 (semantic) and 臽 (phonetic). It ranks #2203 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 焰 fire. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 火 (huǒ, fire), 灯 (dēng, lamp, light), 烟 (yān, smoke).
Definitions
- flame
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 焰 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 火焰 | huǒ yàn | blaze |
| 焰火 | yàn huǒ | fireworks |
| 烈焰 | liè yàn | raging flames |
| 气焰 | qì yàn | arrogance |
| 火焰山 | huǒ yàn shān | Mountain of Flames of legend |
| 众人拾柴火焰高 | zhòng rén shí chái huǒ yàn gāo | lit. when everybody gathers fuel, the flames are higher (proverb) |
| 嚣张气焰 | xiāo zhāng qì yàn | (idiom) overweening attitude |
| 放焰口 | fàng yàn kǒu | to feed the starving ghosts (i.e. offer sacrifice to protect the departed spirit) |
| 火焰喷射器 | huǒ yàn pēn shè qì | flamethrower |
| 口吐毒焰 | kǒu tǔ dú yàn | lit. a mouth spitting with poisonous flames |
| 气焰嚣张 | qì yàn xiāo zhāng | see 囂張氣焰|嚣张气焰[xiao1 zhang1 qi4 yan4] |
| 凶焰 | xiōng yàn | ferocity |
| 萤焰 | yíng yàn | light of firefly |
焰 appears in 13 compound words: 8 as the first character, 54 as the last, and 38 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 焰 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
篝火在夜空中燃烧，火焰映红了每个人的脸庞。
Gōuhuǒ zài yèkōng zhōng ránshāo, huǒyàn yìng hóng le měi gè rén de liǎnpáng.
The bonfire burned in the night sky, its flames illuminating everyone's faces.
中油大林厂火警烈焰黑烟冲天 案发4小时才说明
zhōng yóu dà lín hǎn huǒ jǐng liè yàn hēi yān chōng tiān àn fā 4 xiǎo shí cái shuō míng
影音/日本群马山火烧逾30小时!烈焰距民宅200m 静冈山崩79人受困
yǐng yīn rì běn qún mǎ shān huǒ shāo yú 3 0 xiǎo shí ! liè yàn jù mín zhái 2 0 0 m jìng gāng shān bēng 7 9 rén shòu kùn
Video/Gunma, Japan: Wildfire Burns for Over 30 Hours! Flames Just 200 Meters from Homes; 79 People Trapped in Shizuoka Landslide
一次解决消音、火焰和后座力 美绿扁帽枪枝装备MFMD枪口系...
yī cì jiě jué xiāo yīn , huǒ yàn hé hòu zuò lì měi lǜ piān mào qiāng zhī zhuāng bèi M F M D qiāng kǒu xì . . .
Silencing, muzzle flash, and recoil—all solved at once. Mei Lü Bian Mao firearms equipped with the MFMD muzzle system...
快讯/基隆民宅烈焰冲天!独居男疑点蜡烛酿灾背部烧伤
kuài xùn jī lóng mín zhái liè yàn chōng tiān ! dú jū nán yí diǎn là zhú niàng zāi bèi bù shāo shāng
Breaking News: Blaze Rages at Keelung Home! Man Living Alone Suspected of Causing Fire by Lighting Candle; Suffers Burns to Back
从那儿很容易就能看到焰火。
Cóng nàr hěn róngyì jiù néng kàn dào yànhuǒ.
It's easy to see the fireworks from over there.
天一黑，就会开始放焰火了。
Tiān yī hēi, jiù huì kāishǐ fàng yànhuǒ le.
As soon as it gets dark, the fireworks will start.
去年夏天，我们在桥上看焰火看得很过瘾。
Qùnián xiàtiān, wǒmen zài qiáo shàng kàn yànhuǒ kàn dehěn guòyǐn.
We enjoyed watching the fireworks on a bridge last summer.
硫磺燃烧着蓝色的火焰。
Liúhuáng ránshāo zhe lánsè de huǒyàn.
Sulfur burns with a blue flame.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 焰 (yàn) mean in Chinese?
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What is the radical of 焰?
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What are common words containing 焰?
What characters sound the same as 焰 (yàn)?
Is 焰 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 焰 with real-time feedback
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