抑 (yì): to restrain, to restrict, to keep down

抑 (yì) is a Chinese character meaning “to restrain.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 卬 (phonetic). It ranks #1732 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 抑 hand. Its radical form 扌 (hand) appears in many related characters such as 手 (shǒu, hand), 打 (dǎ, hit, make), 找 (zhǎo, to look for).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to restrain
  2. to restrict
  3. to keep down

Etymology & Origin

抑

pictophonetichand

Decomposition: ⿰扌卬 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Practice writing 抑 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 抑

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
抑制verbyì zhìto inhibit6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
压抑verbyā yìto constrain or repress emotions
抑郁adjectiveyì yùdepressed
抑郁症nounyì yù zhèngclinical depression
抑或conjunctionyì huòor
抑止verbyì zhǐto supress
抑扬顿挫phraseyì yáng dùn cuòsee 頓挫抑揚|顿挫抑扬
抑扬verbyì yángmodulation (rising and falling pitch)
贬抑verbbiǎn yìto belittle
抑制作用yì zhì zuò yònginhibition
笑不可抑xiào bù kě yìto laugh irrepressibly
共模抑制比gòng mó yì zhì bǐ(electronics) common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR)
重农抑商zhòng nóng yì shāngeconomic doctrine and policy in traditional China of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce
自抑zì yìto control oneself
抑郁不平yì yù bù píngin a state of depression (idiom)
产后抑郁nounchǎn hòu yì yùpostpartum depression
33
Total compounds
42
As first character
30
As last character
27
As middle character

抑 appears in 33 compound words: 42 as the first character, 30 as the last, and 27 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 抑 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

郁yù
0.6324,172 co-occurrences
制zhì
0.56529,397 co-occurrences
剂jì
0.5373,252 co-occurrences
症zhèng
0.5032,858 co-occurrences
压yā
0.4401,469 co-occurrences
菌jūn
0.416760 co-occurrences
药yào
0.415980 co-occurrences
瘤liú
0.415344 co-occurrences
挫cuò
0.414226 co-occurrences
肿zhǒng
0.402176 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (3)

顿挫抑扬dùn cuò yì yángHSK 6+

cadence; modulation

phrase
扶弱抑强fú ruò yì qiángHSK 6+

to support the weak and restrain the strong (idiom); robbing the rich to help the poor

phrase
抑扬顿挫yìyángdùncuòHSK 6+

rising and falling in cadence; intonation; speaking in measured tones; (of speech) cadenced

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

他抑了一个电话,约朋友晚上一起吃饭。

tā yì le yī gě diàn huà , yāo péng yǒu wǎn shǎng yī qǐ chī fàn .

He made a phone call to arrange dinner with a friend that evening.

99 健康网Mar 2026

...勃不起是什么原因引起的呢?长期服用降压药抑制勃起反射吗

. . . bó bù qǐ shì shén má yuán yīn yǐn qǐ de ne ? cháng qī fú yòng jiàng yā yào yì zhì bó qǐ fǎn shè ma

... What causes an erection? Does long-term use of antihypertensive drugs suppress erectile reflex?

99 健康网Mar 2026

男人勃不起是什么原因引起的呢?酗酒抑制中枢神经系统功能吗

nán rén bó bù qǐ shì shén má yuán yīn yǐn qǐ de ne ? xù jiǔ yì zhì zhōng shū shén jīng xì tǒng gōng néng ma

What causes men to have an erection? Does alcohol inhibit central nervous system function?

99 健康网Mar 2026

...起是什么原因引起的呢?肥胖引发雌激素升高抑制雄激素吗

. . . qǐ shì shén má yuán yīn yǐn qǐ de ne ? féi pàng yǐn fā cí jī sù shēng gāo yì zhì xióng jī sù ma

... What causes it? Does obesity cause an increase in estrogen and inhibit androgens?

99 健康网Mar 2026

妇科白斑怎么治疗才能彻底根除?焦虑抑郁会加重瘙痒感吗

fù kē bái bān zěn má zhì liáo cái néng chè de gēn chú ? jiāo lǜ yì yù huì jiā chóng 瘙 yǎng gǎn ma

How can vaginal leukoplakia be completely cured? Can anxiety and depression make the itching worse?

99 健康网Feb 2026

...人老是硬不起来怎么处理?工作压力大会不会抑制睾酮分泌

. . . rén lǎo shì yìng bù qǐ lái zěn má chǔ lǐ ? gōng zuò yā lì dà huì bù huì yì zhì 睾 酮 fēn mì

... How to deal with people who can't get up? Work stress does not inhibit testosterone secretion

Tatoeba

我无法压抑心中的怒火。

Wǒ wúfǎ yāyì xīnzhōng de nùhuǒ.

I couldn't keep my anger down.

Tatoeba

当她看到那件衣服, 她无法抑制自己的笑声。

Dāng tā kàn dào nà jiàn yīfu, tā wúfǎ yìzhì zìjǐ de xiàoshēng.

She could hardly keep from laughing when she saw the dress.

Tatoeba

她有时变得心情抑郁。

Tā yǒushí biànde xīnqíng yìyù.

She sometimes goes into a mood of depression.

Tatoeba

石楠花有助于抑制花园里的杂草。

Shí nán huā yǒuzhùyú yìzhì huāyuán lǐ de zácǎo.

Heathers help to suppress weeds in your garden.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 扌 (hand) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced yì

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 抑 (yì) mean in Chinese?
抑 (yì) primarily means "to restrain." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #1732 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 抑 and 设?
抑 (yì) and 设 (shè) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 抑 (down) vs 设 (up).
How many strokes does 抑 have?
抑 is written with 7 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 抑?
The radical associated with 抑 is 扌 (hand). This radical appears in many characters related to hand.
What are the components of 抑?
抑 is composed of: 扌 (semantic), 卬 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰扌卬 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 抑?
Common words with 抑 include: 压抑 (yā yì, "to constrain or repress emotions"); 抑郁 (yì yù, "depressed"); 抑制 (yì zhì, "to inhibit"); 抑郁症 (yì yù zhèng, "clinical depression"); 抑或 (yì huò, "or"). There are over 33 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 抑 (yì)?
Several characters share the pronunciation yì: 一 (one), 以 (to use), 意 (meaning, idea), 已 (already), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 抑 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 抑 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 抑 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.