TraceHanzi

瘾 meaning and stroke order

yǐn

Addiction; craving

HSK 7-916 strokesRadical 疒Traditional 癮
Strokes16
Pinyinyǐn
ToneTone 3
Frequency#2,195
Printable worksheetPractice all HSK 7-9 characters

How to write 瘾, stroke by stroke

16 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.

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Meaning of 瘾

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

yǐnthird tone (dipping)
  1. addiction
  2. craving

How 瘾 is built

Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Sickness.

nèsickness+yǐnto hide

疒 gives the meaning and 隐 hints at the sound.

Radical: 疒 (sickness), shared by 127 characters on this site.

How to remember 瘾

瘾 is pictophonetic: the sickness radical 疒 marks it as a kind of illness, and 隐 (yǐn, hidden) gives the sound. Picture an addiction as a hidden sickness that settles quietly inside you.

瘾 rarely stands alone. It usually appears in words like 上瘾 (shàngyǐn, to get hooked), 过瘾 (guòyǐn, to satisfy a craving or have a great time) and 毒瘾 (dúyǐn, drug addiction). Example: 这个游戏玩起来真过瘾。(Zhège yóuxì wán qǐlái zhēn guòyǐn.) This game is really satisfying to play.

Common mistake: Learners often drop the 疒 and write 隐 (yǐn, hidden), since both share the same sound and tone. Remember that the addiction meaning needs the sickness radical on top.

Common words with 瘾

Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.

WordPinyinMeaningLevel
上瘾shàngyǐnto get into a habit; to become addictedHSK 7-9
过瘾guòyǐnto satisfy a craving; to get a kick out of sthHSK 7-9
瘾君子yǐnjūnzǐaddict (esp. a heavy smoker or drug addict, often jocular or disparaging)
毒瘾dúyǐndrug addiction
成瘾chéngyǐnto be addicted; addiction

瘾 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

真zhēn希xī望wàng自zì己jǐ能néng把bǎ烟yān瘾yǐn戒jiè掉diào。
I wish I could break the habit of smoking.
成chéng瘾yǐn和hé过guò度dù是shì两liǎng回huí事shì。
Getting addicted to something and having too much of something are two different things.
确què实shí有yǒu网wǎng瘾yǐn这zhè回huí事shì。
There really is such a thing as Internet addiction.
玛mǎ丽lì是shì咖kā啡fēi成chéng瘾yǐn者zhě。
Mary is addicted to coffee.
这zhè个ge好hǎo像xiàng说shuō一yí个gè人rén上shàng瘾yǐn了le“交jiāo通tōng”，“艺yì术shù”或huò“政zhèng治zhì”。
It’s like saying that someone is addicted to “transport”, “art” or “politics”.

Questions about 瘾

How many strokes are in 瘾?

瘾 is written with 16 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.

What does 瘾 mean?

瘾 (yǐn) means addiction; craving. A common word with it is 上瘾 (shàngyǐn), meaning "to get into a habit; to become addicted".

How do you pronounce 瘾?

瘾 is pronounced yǐn, in the third tone (dipping).

What is the radical of 瘾?

The radical of 瘾 is 疒, which carries the idea of "sickness". Dictionaries list 瘾 under this radical.

What is the traditional form of 瘾?

The traditional form of 瘾 is 癮. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 瘾 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.

Is 瘾 on the HSK exam?

Yes. 瘾 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.

Is 过瘾 always about addiction?

No. In everyday speech 过瘾 usually just means something was thrilling or deeply satisfying, like a great meal, a good movie or an exciting match. It is positive and casual.

How do I say someone is addicted to something with 瘾?

A common pattern is 对 + thing + 上瘾, for example 他对咖啡上瘾了 (tā duì kāfēi shàngyǐn le), he is hooked on coffee. You can also say 有烟瘾 (yǒu yānyǐn) for having a smoking habit.

Keep going

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