Dictionary › 阴

阴

yīn

HSK 2 Character Traditional 陰

What 阴 means

1. overcast (weather)
2. cloudy
3. shady
4. Yin (the negative principle of Yin and Yang)
5. negative (electric.)
6. feminine
7. moon
8. implicit
9. hidden
10. genitalia

Other readings

阴 is 多音字 — it is read more than one way, and the reading changes the meaning.

• Yīnsurname Yin
• yīnvariant of {阴|yīn}

Example sentences

• 天气变阴了。
  The weather turned bad.
• 我是阴阳人。
  I'm intersex.
• 前途一片阴暗。
  Qiántú yī piàn yīn'àn.
  The future looked very gloomy.
• 今天是个阴天。
  Jīntiān shì gè yīntiān.
  Today is a cloudy day.
• 明天不是阴天。
  Míngtiān bù shì yīntiān.
  Tomorrow will not be cloudy.
• 天突然转阴了。
  All of a sudden the sky became overcast.

Words starting with 阴

• 阴谋yīn móuto conspire; to plot; a conspiracy; a plot
• 阴影yīn yǐng(lit. and fig.) shadow
• 阴阳yīn yángyin and yang
• 阴暗yīn àndim; dark; overcast
• 阴茎yīn jīngpenis
• 阴道yīn dàovagina
• 阴沉yīn chéngloomy
• 阴天yīn tiāncloudy day; overcast sky
• 阴冷yīn lěnggloomy and cold
• 阴郁yīn yù(of skies or one's mood) gloomy
• 阴霾yīn máihaze
• 阴险yīn xiǎntreacherous; sinister
• 阴森yīn sēngloomy; sinister; eerie
• 阴雨yīn yǔovercast and rainy
• 阴历yīn lìlunar calendar
• 阴凉yīn liángshady
• 阴性yīn xìngnegative; feminine
• 阴沉沉yīn chén chéndark (weather, mood)
• 阴间yīn jiānthe nether world; Hades; (neologism; slang) disturbing
• 阴云yīn yúndark cloud
• 阴差阳错yīn chā yáng cuò(idiom) due to an unexpected turn of events
• 阴魂yīn húnghost; spirit
• 阴部yīn bùgenitalia
• 阴沟yīn gōusewer; underground drainage channel

Words containing 阴

• 光阴guāng yīntime available
• 树阴shù yīnshade (of a tree)
• 下阴xià yīnthe genitals
• 外阴wài yīnvulva
• 太阴tài yīnthe Moon (esp. in Daoism)
• 女阴nǚ yīnvulva; pudenda
• 寸阴cùn yīna very brief period of time (lit. the time it takes for a shadow to move an inch)
• 会阴huì yīnperineum; see 会阴穴
• 绿阴lǜ yīntree shade; shady
• 缩阴suō yīnto make the vagina tighter
• 背阴bèi yīnin the shade; shady
• 假阴性jiǎ yīn xìngfalse negative
• 卡到阴kǎ dào yīn(Taiwan) to be possessed; to be bewitched
• 有阴影yǒu yīn yǐngshadowy
• 玩阴的wán yīn de(colloquial) to play dirty; to use underhanded tactics; (colloquial) sneaky; underhanded
• 华阴市Huá yīn ShìHuayin, a county-level city in Weinan City 渭南市
• 观落阴guān luò yīna ritual whereby the living soul is brought to the nether world for a spiritual journey
• 林阴大道lín yīn dà dàoboulevard; tree-lined avenue
• 虚度光阴xū dù guāng yīnto waste time on worthless activities
• 连阴雨lián yīn yǔprolonged spell of rainy weather
• 江阴市Jiāng yīn ShìJiangyin, a county-level city in Wuxi City 无锡市
• 阳奉阴违yáng fèng yīn wéioutward devotion but inner opposition (idiom); to pay lip service…
• 山阴县Shān yīn XiànShanyin, a county in Shuozhou City 朔州市
• 平阴县Píng yīn XiànPingyin, a county in Jinan City 济南市

Characters built on 月

These share the phonetic component 月 (yuè), which is why their readings rhyme. Learning them as a family is far cheaper than learning them one at a time.

• 胤yìndescendant; heir; offspring
• 膦lìnphosphine
• 膑bìnvariant of 髌

Characters that look like 阴

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 网wǎngnet; web; network; to net; to catch with a net
• 附fùto add; to attach; to be close to; to be attached
• 刚gāng(literary) hard; firm; strong; exactly; precisely; barely; only just
• 丽lìbeautiful
• 驱qūto expel; to urge on; to drive
• 纲gānghead rope of a fishing net; guiding principle; key link

Sounds the same

Read yīn, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 因cause; reason; because
• 音sound; noise; note (of musical scale)
• 姻marriage connections
• 茵mattress
• 荫(bound form) shade (of a tree)
• 殷flourishing; abundant; earnest
• 铟indium (chemistry)
• 慇solicitous
• 氤used in 氤氲
• 喑mute
• 洇to soak; to blotch; to splotch
• 愔peaceful; solemn