Meaning
smother; stuffy; melancholy
Chinese: 空气不流通或心情不舒畅；另一个读音也指密闭。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “men” becomes a different word in each tone. 闷 is the 1st tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 沉闷chén mènoppressive (of weather); heavy; depressed; not happy
- 纳闷儿nà mèn rcolloquial (-r) form of 纳闷
- 烦闷fán mènmoody; gloomy
- 解闷jiě mènto relieve boredom or melancholy; a diversion
- 闷热mēn rèsultry; sultriness; hot and stuffy; stifling hot
Example Sentence
房间里太闷了，开窗透透气吧。Fáng jiān lǐ tài mēn le, kāi chuāng tòu tou qì ba.It is too stuffy in the room; open the window to let in air.
房间Fáng jiānroom里lǐinside太tàitoo闷mēnstuffy了le(completed action)，开kāito open (transitive or int窗chuāngwindow透tòuto tell secretly透气tou qìto flow freely (of air)吧bato puff (on a pipe etc)。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A door (门) shut over a heart (心): a heart closed in behind a door. It means ‘stuffy / bored / depressed’. Simplified from 悶.
A way to remember it
A heart shut behind a door — stifled.
Easy to confuse with
- 问‘To ask’: a door around 口 (mouth), not 心 (heart).